People taking shots at a drive-through Centre at Chhatrasal Stadium in new Delhi on Saturday. Drive-through vaccine facilities for people aged 18-44 are now available at various locations in Delhi, but the price per dose is being offered by private hospitals.
Free vaccination centres for the age group, however, remain shut for a week now as stocks have not been replenished.
On Sunday morning, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain inaugurated a drive-through vaccination drive to be held on Sunday and Monday at DLF Avenue, Saket by Max Hospital, Saket. Covishield vaccines will be available there for Rs 1,100 per dose.
On Saturday, a week-long vaccination drive for all categories above 18 years by Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital also began at Sainik Farms. The hospital is offering Covishield at the same price Rs. 1,100.
Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia at a drive-through Centre at Chhatrasal Stadium in new Delhi on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, both Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia inaugurated the first such drive-through centres in the city—at Vegas Mall in Dwarka by Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital and at Select City Walk mall in Saket by Fortis Hospital. The dose at the Dwarka centre was offered at Rs. 1,400 and at Saket for Rs. 1,450.
A spokesperson of Moolchand Hospital said that the hospital administration is in talks with the district administration to also set up a drive-through vaccination programme in Delhi.
While Kejriwal had introduced the government’s own drive-through centre providing free vaccines at Chhatrasal Stadium on Saturday, this facility will not be available to those below 45 and is not functional so far. In fact, the Delhi government has not administered doses to those in the 18-44 at centres run by it for a week now, after running out of doses.
Further, the government has also announced that the central government has notified it that this stock will not be replenished before June 10. Because of the limited and exclusive availability of vaccines for this category, only 17,072 people between 18-44 had received their first dose on Saturday.
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