Delhi ready to receive, store, give COVID vaccine to top priority persons: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Delhi government is fully prepared to receive, store and give COVID-19 vaccine to priority category persons in the city in the first phase of vaccination, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.

He said his government is all set to start the vaccination drive as soon as it gets the vaccine from the Centre, and registration is underway for people in three priority categories who will receive it first.

"There are a total of 51 lakh priority category persons in Delhi -- three lakh health workers, six lakh frontline workers, and 42 lakh of those aged above 50 and those below 50 but having co-morbidities," the chief minister said at a virtual press briefing.

Each person will be given two doses, and a total of 1.02 crore doses will be required in the first phase of vaccination in Delhi, he said. Currently, there is storage capacity for 74 lakh doses, and it will be scaled up to 1.15 crore within a week, CM Kejriwal said.

Delhi govt has completed all preparations & is ready for vaccination. There are around 51 lakh people including healthcare & frontline workers who would get vaccine in the first phase. The process of identification of all such people is almost complete: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal https://t.co/Lf8WyJYMjA pic.twitter.com/vjATScI1oj — ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020

Each person in priority categories is being registered to receive the vaccine.  They will be informed through SMS and other means whenever their turn for vaccination arrives, the Chief Minister said.

The AAP chief said,  "We would need 1.02 crore doses of vaccine for the first phase of vaccination since each person will get two doses. Currently, we have the capacity to store 74 lakh doses which will be increased to 1.15 crore within one week.''

The necessary staff, officials and health workers have also been identified and trained for the vaccination drive. The sites where vaccination will be carried out is also being readied, he said.

The COVID-19 situation in Delhi has improved significantly in the past few days, but all eyes are set on when the vaccine will be available and people will get rid of the virus, Kejriwal added.