The number of people immunised against COVID-19 till date in Delhi has crossed the one lakh-mark and the majority of them are healthcare workers, officials said on Saturday. The government, however, did not share information on how many of the total beneficiaries were front-line workers and healthcare workers.
A total of 9,510 beneficiaries got the COVID-19 vaccination on Saturday and there were nine Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI), said a Delhi government spokesperson.
Front-line workers, which include police personnel and teachers, are now being vaccinated following the Centre’s directions. Though there is a daily list of people that are to be vaccinated, individuals not on the list but registered on Co-WIN can also get the jab.
The number of people vaccinated on Saturday was 51.87% of the daily target of 17,900. Delhi uses both vaccines for COVID-19, Covaxin and Covishield, and of the nine AEFIs, eight were from Covishield and one was from Covaxin. “Both healthcare and front-line workers were vaccinated at the same sites and we followed the same procedures,” a district official said.
The city started the drive by inoculating one lakh healthcare workers whose names were registered with the government.
The vaccination drive for front-line workers started earlier this week and about 3.4 lakh have registered with the government till now, said officials. “Delhi has crossed the one lakh-mark in COVID-19 vaccination. District Magistrates have come forward to vaccinate themselves,” said the government spokesperson.
Government officials are being considered as front-line workers and many senior officials are taking the vaccine to set an example.
District Magistrate (West) Neha Bansal, who took the vaccination on Friday, said she was trying to motivate her colleagues. “I took the vaccine despite having comorbidities and I am completely fine. About 100 employees from my office took the vaccine with me.”
The city witnessed 123 fresh COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, taking the total to 6,35,916, as per a health bulletin released on Saturday. Four more deaths have taken the toll to 10,877.
There are now 1,174 active cases in the city.