COVID-19 vaccine: Delhi govt to inoculate 51 lakh people in phase one, says Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Delhi government is fully prepared to receive, store, and give COVID-19 vaccine to priority-category people in the city in the first phase of vaccination, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. He said his government is all set to start the vaccination drive as soon as it gets the vaccine from the Centre, and registration is underway for people in three priority categories who will receive it first. “There are a total of 51 lakh priority category persons in Delhi — three lakh health workers, six lakh frontline workers, and 42 lakh of those aged above 50 and those below 50 but having co-morbidities,” the chief minister said at a virtual press briefing. Each person will be given two doses, and a total of 1.02 crore doses will be required in the first phase of vaccination in Delhi, he said. Currently, there is storage capacity for 74 lakh doses, and it will be scaled up to 1.15 crore within a week, Kejriwal said. Each person in priority categories is being registered to receive the vaccine. They will be informed through SMS and other means whenever their turn for vaccination arrives, the chief minister said. The necessary staff, officials and health workers have also been identified and trained for the vaccination drive. The sites where vaccination will be carried out is also being readied, he said. The COVID-19 situation in Delhi has improved significantly in the past few days, but all eyes are set on when the vaccine will be available and people will get rid of the virus, Kejriwal added.