New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, urging to direct Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech to increase monthly supplies to the national capital to 60 lakh doses during May to July. The chief minister also requested that all states should be allowed to develop separate apps or mechanism for vaccination drive.
In the letter, CM Kejriwal wrote, “Delhi has around 92 lakh people in the 18-45 age group. I urge you to direct Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech to increase their monthly supplies to 60 lakh doses per month, during May to July 2021. Both the age groups together, we need 83 lakh doses per month to vaccinate everyone about 18 years of age in the next three months.”
“We have already developed the infrastructure required. We are already vaccinating roughly 1 lakh people everyday. We are increasing this capacity to roughly 3 lakhs per day in the next few days. Therefore, we will have the capacity to administer 90 lakh doses per month,” the letter added.
Earlier in the day, AAP MLA Atishi said that the national capital has vaccinated over 1.28 lakh people against coronavirus on Saturday. She said Delhi currently has 4.65 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines available for those above 45, and healthcare and frontline workers, while 2.74 lakh doses are available for the 18-44 age category. She said Delhi has so far received 5.5 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines for the 18-44 category, and over 43 lakh doses for 45-plus, and healthcare and frontline workers.
As many as 1,28,441 people were vaccinated in the city on May 8, she said, adding over 38 lakh doses have been administered in the national capital so far.
Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday attacked the Centre over the export of coronavirus vaccines, saying a large number of lives could have been saved in India if the doses were given to people in the country first. “It’s a heinous crime committed by the Central government to sell vaccines to other countries only for its image management at a time when people were dying in our own country,” he said during a media briefing.
Citing a newspaper report, Sisodia said the Centre sold coronavirus vaccines to 93 countries of which 60 percent had COVID-19 under control, and also where there was no threat of loss of life due to the virus. A large number of youths in the country perished to the coronavirus in the second wave of the pandemic, he said, adding their lives could have been saved if the vaccines were given to them instead of exporting the doses.
He said the Centre should now ensure that the vaccines manufactured in the country are provided to the states that are facing a shortage. He reiterated the Delhi government can vaccinate everyone in the city within three months if adequate doses are made available to it.
(With Agency inputs)