Kids queue up at a vaccination centre in New Delhi. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna) Delhi saw an uptick in administration of precautionary doses of the Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday with 62 per cent of the shots — 5,503 of 8,979 — being the third jab.
This means that nearly one in three shots over the last two days in Delhi were precaution doses.
The number has seen a rise since the government made it free for all adults from April 21. The precautionary dose for adults was opened up on April 10, but were paid ones at private centres.
The administration of the precautionary doses had been low in the national capital since it was opened up from healthcare and frontline workers, and those over the age of 60 on January 10. “More people are coming in to get the precautionary doses since it was made free. They belong to the younger population, between 18 and 45 years of age,” a government official said. The official added, “There is also an increase in cases now. Whenever cases go up, there is also an increase in vaccination.”
Delhi has administered 6.56 lakh precautionary doses to date. This month, shots to children between 12 and 14 years of age accounted for a big proportion of the shots being administered in Delhi.
The number of vaccines administered in Delhi went down in mid-February and early March because Delhi reached a saturation point in most categories. Over 90% of the adult population in the capital have been vaccinated.
After the lull, the numbers went up again when administration of the second dose for children between the ages 15 and 17 started, and then again when the drive was opened up for those between 12 and 14 years of age.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
