Delhi has faced shortage of vaccine doses, Arvind Kejriwal said today.
One crore vaccine doses have been given in Delhi, ever since the inoculation drive began, to cover nearly 50 per cent of the national capital's adult population, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today. While 76 lakh people have got at least one dose, 26 lakh people in the city are fully vaccinated against coronavirus, he shared today, congratulating healthcare workers for the feat.
"Till today, 1 crore vaccine doses have been given in the city to nearly 74 lakh people. Of these, at least 26 lakh people have got both their doses... rest of them have got one shot each," the Chief Minister said during a televised briefing.
With the city having an approximate population of about 2 crore, about 1.5 crore people are above 18 years of age, and eligible to get vaccinated, the Chief Minister said. "About 50 per cent of the adult population has got the first dose of vaccine," Mr Kejriwal, 52, underlined.
"People in Delhi are showing enthusiasm and willingness to get vaccinated. I want to congratulate all the healthcare workers for the feat. However, due to the shortage of doses, we have not been able to scale up the vaccination drive," he further stressed.
Around 50,000-70,000 vaccine doses are being administered each day, according to the state government. "If we get the required number of doses, we are easily capable of vaccinating three lakh people each day. But we are not able to do this amid the shortage. We are constantly in touch with the central government over the issue. I really hope that the national capital and other parts of the country are able to step up the inoculation drives by accessing more stocks," the Chief Minister shared.
Urging people to get vaccinated, Mr Kejriwal said his government is now facing the "twin-challenge" of inoculating all those who are yet to get vaccinated, and give the second dose to those who've got their first shot.
The city has been able to check the spread of coronavirus with several weeks of strict lockdown after daily infections passed grim records in April and May. The national capital saw shortage of medical oxygen and hospital beds at the peak of India's second Covid wave.
In the last 24 hours, Delhi logged 58 new cases and one death due to Covid.
Across the country, over 52 crore doses have been given so far. The government aims to vaccinate 108 crore people by the end of this year.