Delhi Aims To Vaccinate Everyone Before The Third Wave, Wants 2.6 Crore Doses Within 3 Months

Like the rest of the country, Delhi is also facing a huge demand and supply gap when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines.

The national capital has been steadily increasing its vaccine rollout and is one of the few places where those in the 18-44 age group can get the vaccines.

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2.6 cr vaccine doses needed

However, according to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi will need 2.6 crore doses of the vaccines in the next three months to inoculate all adults.

He said that Delhi currently has vaccine doses to vaccinate people for next 5-6 days and urged the Centre to provide adequate doses.

Currently, vaccination is going on at 100 centres in Delhi. The number of centres will be increased to 250-300 by the Delhi government. In order to vaccinate all people in Delhi, over three crore doses will be required, out of which around 40 lakh have already been received, he said.

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The chief minister urged the Centre to provide it 85 lakh doses per month so that all the Delhiites could be vaccinated in the next three months.

"As of today around 1 lakh people are getting jabs per day in Delhi. We can increase this number up to 3 lakh per day. We have increased our vaccination sites and many more to be set up soon," the chief minister said.

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Third wave threat looms large

With the threat of a third wave of COVID-19 looming, many states and UTs are racing against time to get the maximum number of eligible citizens vaccinated against the virus.

"We will request the Centre to provide adequate vaccines to Delhi. Delhi government wants to vaccinate all eligible people before the next wave of pandemic," Kejriwal said.

The third wave of Covid looks inevitable due to the amount of virus circulating in India, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government, K. Vijay Raghavan had warned.

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"Third phase is inevitable given the amount of virus circulating. But it is difficult to predict the timeline. We should prepare for the new (third) wave," said Raghavan.

Eminent cardiologist and director of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, C N Manjunath who in November 2020 predicted the arrival of the second wave of COVID in March or April based on the pattern of spread and resurgence in Europe said that the vaccination drive should be completed by October before the possible third wave hits the nation.