COVID-19 vaccination drive: 1,856 healthcare workers receive second dose in Delhi

New Delhi: The vaccination drive against COVID-19 picked up the pace on Saturday as 1,856 healthcare workers, who had received their first shots on day one of the exercise four weeks ago, turned up to get their second dose. However, the turnout for the second dose was about 43 percent only. Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on 16 January, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) health workers, against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one. According to doctors, the second dose is to given to a beneficiary after a gap of 28 days. On Saturday, a total of 13,768 beneficiaries received vaccine shots and administering of the second dose began for healthcare workers who had received the first jab 28 days ago, a senior official said. “Out of the total number of healthcare workers, 1,856 received second dose today and 3,530 got the first jab. Also, 8,382 frontline workers also got their first shots today,” he said. The number of centres where vaccination was carried out on Friday stood at 257, with a turnout of about 57 per cent, as over 14,800 people received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi in the fourth week of the inoculation drive. The second dose delivery began at LNJP Hospital as well and 25 people received the second shots, a senior official at the facility said, adding that a total of 137 people were vaccinated there on Saturday. Thirty-two healthcare workers were vaccinated on 16 January at the LNJP Hospital, from where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had officially started the drive. The state-run hospital, currently a partial coronavirus facility, had played a critical role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi. A senior doctor at the Centre for Chest and Respiratory Illness, and other healthcare workers at the BLK Super Speciality Hospital also received their second COVID vaccine shots on Saturday, a hospital spokesperson said. A senior doctor at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital said, “a total of 110 people got vaccinated and five of them were those who got their second shots today”. Meanwhile, according to a public notice issued by the health department authorities, vaccination of all healthcare workers registered on the CoWIN app has to be mandatorily completed by 20 February. The final mop-up round for healthcare workers will thereafter commence from February 21-25, it said, adding healthcare workers who are already registered can walk in to any designated vaccination site if they have not received a scheduling message on SMS. On the second scheduled day after the roll-out of the exercise on January 16, the figures had stood at 3,598 (44 per cent of the target). The sharp fall had come after one severe and 50 minor adverse effect cases were reported on the opening day of the vaccination drive. The count on third scheduled day was much higher, at 4,936 (48 per cent). After sluggish start, since the exercise was kicked off on January 16, the inoculation drive picked up the pace in the last several days. “On Friday, 14,843 people were administered coronavirus vaccine, and AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) was reported in seven people” a senior official of the Delhi Health Department had said. No fresh death from COVID-19 was recorded on Saturday in Delhi, the second time in February when the single-day fatality count was zero, according to data shared by the city health department. The city recorded 126 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.21 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.