As India gears up for the third phase of COVID vaccination from 1 May, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain stated on Thursday, 29 April, that the national capital does not have enough doses for inoculating adults in the age group of 18-44 years.
"We don't have vaccines as of now. We have made requests to the company regarding vaccines, we will tell you when it comes," Jain told reporters.
He further stated that the manufacturers are yet to provide a schedule for the supply of COVID vaccines to the Delhi government.
Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised free vaccinations to all those above 18 years of age.
According to the Delhi government's health bulletin for Wednesday, which was later revised, 3,101,562 beneficiaries have been vaccinated so far.
With 81,829 tests conducted in the last 24 hours of when the bulletin was published, Delhi saw a positivity rate of 31.76 percent.
Jain also stated that the testing had dipped in the capital in the last few days due to the restricted movement of people during the lockdown.
He added that there was a small ray of hope, as “over the last 1.5 months, the daily positivity (rate) had never been below the 10-day average, but in the last three days, it has been below.”
Delhi has been recording over 300 deaths in the last few days.
The vaccination drive for adults above 18 years of age is set to begin on 1 May, nation-wide. The Delhi government had earlier approved the purchase of 1.34 crore COVID vaccines from manufacturers.
(With inputs from agencies)
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