Flagging an acute shortage of vaccines for the 18-44 age group, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday, 29 May, stated that vaccine stock designated for the group are over and further doses are not expected before 10 June.
“The Center provided only 4.5 lakh vaccines to the youth of Delhi in the month of April, only 3.67 lakh in May, and only 5.5 lakh doses for June. The central government is sitting with a horoscope on the vaccine. It says, for the state government, there is no vaccine, it gives vaccine to private hospitals.”
Accusing the Centre for “sitting over” the vaccine distribution system, Sisodia asked how private hospitals are procuring vaccine doses if the Centre does not have enough stocks for the state.
According to him, Delhi is expected to receive 5.5 lakh COVID-19 jabs for 92 lakh beneficiaries in the 18-44 years age group in June. It has so far received only 4.5 lakh does in April and 3.67 lakh doses in May, against the requirement of 1.84 crore doses.
The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has floated a global expression of interest (EOI) to urgently procure 10 million doses of COVID vaccines. The UT government has so far inoculated 52,88,099 people, of which 11, 88,733 have received both doses.
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