Delhi has given precaution doses to one in four eligible beneficiaries

The vaccination drive for children between the ages of 15 and 17 years is also progressing well, with Delhi having administered the first dose to 75.6 per cent of the eligible population. So far, 786,480 children have been given the first dose in Delhi. As per estimates, there are over 1 million children in this age group in the capital. To reach more children, the government has been carrying out the drive not just at its own vaccination centres, but also through camp mode in schools.

The children will become eligible for the second dose of the vaccine in February, with all of them having received Covaxin for which the duration between the two shots is 4 to 6 weeks.

A total of 29.4 million shots have been administered in Delhi so far, of which 16.1 million are first doses in adults covering a complete 100 per cent of the estimated 15 million eligible population, and 12.2 million second doses covering over 81 per cent of the eligible population.

There were 93 adverse events following immunisation reported in the entire month of January, most of which were fever and headaches as per officials in the know.

The Centre has said high vaccine coverage is one of the reasons for a milder third wave.

Delhi reported 28,000 cases in a day at the peak of both the second and the third waves of the infection. However, peak hospital occupancy during the current wave was around 2,700, whereas for the previous wave in April-May last year, it was over 20,000.

A total of 637 deaths have been reported in the month of January amid the current wave fuelled by Omicron, as compared to 5,120 deaths in April and 8,090 deaths in May during the previous wave due to Delta.