Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi this afternoon with four suggestions for increasing vaccine demand, noting that the national capital had “paused the rollout” for the 18-44 age group due to a shortage of doses. “It’s critical to step up the vaccination campaign to shield the country from a third Covid wave,” he said in an appeal to the government earlier today.
“All of the government-supplied doses (for the 18-44 age group) have been used. There were a few doses left over, which would be used by the evening. This is a sad situation. We’ve written to the center about it, and we’ll reopen the centers as soon as we get supplies “During a video address, the Chief Minister said.
Delhi needs 80 lakh doses per month, but only 16 lakh were delivered in May, according to Mr. Kejriwal’s letter to the Prime Minister. “Our share for June has been reduced even further to eight lakh doses,” he said.
His letter said that if the city receives 8 lakh doses per month, it would take at least 30 months to vaccinate the whole city.
“It’s difficult to predict how many more Covid waves will reach the city by then, and how many more lives will be lost,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal pleaded with the central government.
“All vaccine makers in India should be directed to produce Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin within 24 hours to ramp up stocks,” Arvind Kejriwal said in presenting the four suggestions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Kejriwal emphasized that foreign vaccine manufacturers should be able to carry out their vaccines within 24 hours. “The center can contact foreign vaccine makers, purchase vaccines from them, and administer them to states. The states and union territories are at odds with one another “He was adamant.
The Chief Minister went on to say that certain countries “have stocked more vaccines than they require, and the center should recommend that these nations send the excess to India.”
As a final recommendation, he said that international vaccine manufactures should be allowed to produce in India.
The Health Ministry announced earlier this week that the government has exchanged a forward schedule for vaccine doses and supply until June 15 and that states have been asked to arrange calendars for booking slots on the Cowin app, the government’s digital portal.
According to an official statement released this morning, over 1.6 crore doses are already available with states and union territories.
In March, India was struck by a second deadly Covid wave. The number of regular cases has risen dramatically in the last two months, putting a strain on hospitals. While the number of cases and deaths in Delhi increased, the positivity rate fell below 5% for the first time since April 4 on Friday. As of April 19, the city has been under lockdown.
