Just 481 get booster shots in Delhi on Day 1 of expanded drive
Of those vaccinated at private centres on Sunday, 155 got their first shot, 1,781 got their second, while 481 residents, aged between 18 and 60, got precautionary jabs.
Just 481 residents of Delhi aged between 18 and 60 got booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Sunday, as the expanded inoculation drive got off to a crawling start in the national capital, largely due to a lack of clarity on pricing.
On Sunday, only 2,722 vaccine doses were administered to residents of the city across all age groups, included first, second and third (which the government refers to as precautionary doses) jabs. Of these, 2,417 shots were administered at private vaccination facilities, while the remaining were at government-run centres, most of which are shut on Sunday.
Of those vaccinated at private centres on Sunday, 155 got their first shot, 1,781 got their second, while 481 residents, aged between 18 and 60, got precautionary jabs.
Only 34 senior citizens, health care and frontline workers on Sunday got precautionary doses as part of the existing booster dose programme.
Booster doses are not free for people in the 18-60 age group, and only those who have completed a nine-month gap since their second dose are eligible. However, the precautionary dose continues to be free for those above 60 and those in high-risk jobs.
The manufacturers of Covishield and Covaxin both reduced their prices to ₹225 per dose.
However, several private hospitals in the Capital that held existing vaccine stocks procured at higher rates earlier said they were in a quandary over ways to sell the vaccines at old rates before they can procure the new stocks at revised prices.
An official also said the poor numbers could also be attributed to Ram Navmi (which was celebrated on Sunday), Ramzan, as well as the usual Sunday dip.
“Private hospitals waited for 10 people to open one vial so as to check vaccine wastage,” said a Delhi government official. All 10 doses in a vial must be administered within four hours of the seal being broken to avoid wastage.
The official added that the drive is expected to pick up in the coming days.
Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said that the booster vaccine dose is expected to raise antibody levels, which could have dipped since the second shot.
“It has been realised that two doses are not enough to maintain enough antibodies to protect a person from severe infection. It is also not certain how many boosters are required. However, it is believed that subsequent variants are milder, which could be due to the effects of natural infection or vaccination,” said Dr Kishore.
