Great enthusiasm among youth to get Covid-19 vaccine: Kejriwal

Kejriwal who inspected the vaccination drive at a centre in Chirag Delhi said there is great enthusiasm among the youth to get the jab

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the number of Covid-19 vaccination centres will be increased three times in Delhi and demanded that the Centre supply around 2.6 crore more vaccine doses for inoculation of all people in the national capital in the next three months.

Currently, vaccination is going on at 100 centres in Delhi. The number of centres will be increased to 250-300 by the Delhi government, he said in an online briefing.

He said that Delhi currently has vaccine doses to vaccinate people for next 5-6 days and urged the Centre to provide adequate jabs.

In order to vaccinate all people in Delhi, over 3 crore doses will be required, out of which around 40 lakh have already been received, he said.

The chief minister urged the Centre to provide it 85 lakh doses per month so that all the Delhiites could be vaccinated in the next three months.

Kejriwal who inspected the ongoing vaccination drive at a centre in Chirag Delhi said there is great enthusiasm among the youth to get the jab.

He said that due to good arrangements in Delhi, people from NCR towns like Noida, Ghaziabad were also reaching here to get the vaccines. So, Delhi will require a little more than three crore doses, he said.

He said Delhi is currently administering one lakh vaccine doses per day and it could increase this number to three lakh.

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The chief minister said Delhi's population is two crores, and close to one crore fall in the 18-44 age group. Fifty lakh are below 18, and 50 lakh people are above 45 years of age.

"Roughly 1.5 crore people are above 18 years of age. We need three crore vaccine doses to vaccinate these 1.5 crore people, but we've received just 40 lakh doses. As a result, we need 2 crore 60 lakh additional vaccines," he said.

Delhi has been vaccinating more than one lakh people every day. This includes around 50,000 people in age group of 18-44 years and 50,000 aged 45 years and above, he said.

Delhi is not getting an adequate amount of vaccines, and if it were to get the required amount of doses then the Delhi government will be able to vaccinate all within three months, he reiterated.

“A major obstacle we're facing is that of vaccine scarcity. If we get adequate doses, then as I have said repeatedly, we will be able to vaccinate the entire Delhi in three months."

Citing warnings of a third wave of Covid-19, he said that vaccination is the only safeguard against the deadly virus.

He also urged the Centre and experts for finding alternatives to protect children below 18 years of age from Covid-19.

"We are particularly concerned about children under 18 years of age who cannot get vaccinated right now. I appeal to all experts and the Centre to arrange a vaccine for them too so that they can also get inoculated," stated the chief minister.

He also supported one vaccine programme in the country as a firm possibility.

Kejriwal credited the central government for trying its best to provide Delhi with facilities during the pandemic, and hoped it will also assist in ensuring adequate doses for vaccination.