Delhi Not Getting Enough Vaccines: Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the city is not getting enough vaccines, and that if doses are made available in time, his government could vaccinate everyone here within three months.

He also said the Delhi government will decide about extending the ongoing lockdown in the city depending on the number of Covid-19 cases.

Right now, the citizens of Delhi themselves want this lockdown to continue to stop the spread of this virus, he said after visiting a vaccination centre at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Rajendra Nagar.

He said Delhi has put in place infrastructure for vaccination which can be used to scale-up the inoculation drive massively within 24 hours.

“Supply of more vaccine is the fundamental requirement right now. If vaccine is provided in sufficient quantity, we can achieve our target of vaccinating entire Delhi in three months,” he said.

The Delhi government has already ordered 67 lakh doses each of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.

“The process of vaccination has started successfully. We have received a very less quantity of vaccines. Now (with) the kind of infrastructure we have developed based on that, we can ramp up the vaccination drive within 24 hours,” he said.

Full-fledged vaccination of people in the age group 18-44 years began in Delhi on May 2, after the city government received 4.5 lakh doses of the vaccine.

The vaccination drive in the city has begun at both private and government facilities, and a large number of youth are turning up for taking jabs, the Chief Minister said.

“As I earlier said that we want to vaccinate every citizen here within three months but to do that we need proper supply of vaccines. I am very hopeful that we can reach that target but for that sufficient supply of vaccine should be ensured.”

Kejriwal also said his government is working with the Centre on the issue of oxygen supply. “We completely understand that the Central government is responsible for ensuring oxygen to the entire country. But we hope that the Centre will provide Delhi with its quota of required oxygen,” he said.

The Centre has allocated 590 MT of oxygen per day to Delhi. The city government has complained of getting less oxygen than the fixed quota and demanded it to be raised further to 976 MT.

“For the past several days, we are battling the scarcity of oxygen. During this tough time, we have also received massive support from the Supreme Court and the High Court. I am hopeful that in the coming days the situation will improve.

The oxygen supply is being constantly monitored, he said.

A total 43 SOS calls for oxygen were received from hospitals on Tuesday, Kejriwal said, and added the Delhi government is working round the clock to ensure there is no fatality due to lack of it.