Coronavirus vaccination centres in Delhi will remain operational for 24 hours from Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party government said on Monday.
One-third of the vaccination centres will remain open from 9 pm to 9 am, the health and family welfare department said. Earlier, Covid-19 vaccines were administered only between 9 am and 9 pm, reported NDTV.
The decision was taken to accelerate the speed of coronavirus vaccinations in the national Capital, the order said.
Hours later, Delhi recorded 3,548 new coronavirus cases, according to the bulletin issued by the Delhi health department. This is the fourth straight day when over 3,000 cases have been reported, taking the city’s tally to 6,79,962.
Delhi is facing a surge in coronavirus cases. The city had recorded 3,594 cases on Friday, 3,567 cases on Saturday and 4,033 cases on Sunday.
The toll on Monday jumped by 15 to 11,096. As many as 6,54,277 people have recovered from the infection so far.
The daily Covid-19 infection count had come down in the national Capital in February but began to steadily climb again in March.
India too is witnessing a steady increase in coronavirus cases. On Monday, the country recorded 1,03,558 daily coronavirus cases, the most infections reported in a day since the pandemic began. With this, the country’s overall count rose to 1,25,89,067.
Delhi CM urges Modi to expand vaccination drive
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking speedy coronavirus vaccination and its increased coverage for citizens in the national Capital and the country, reported the Hindustan Times.
“The increase in the rate of transition of Corona across the country has presented new concerns and challenges,” Kejriwal wrote. “The vaccination campaign needs to move more rapidly in this context.”
Kejriwal also requested the prime minister to relax the norms for opening new vaccination centres and lift restrictions on the age limit, making the vaccine available for all. If these rules are relaxed, the Delhi government can vaccinate all residents of the city within three months, the letter said.
Kejriwal said that everyone, except those who cannot get inoculated due to medical reasons, should be vaccinated. “This will remove the hesitation among people and increase the number of people getting vaccinated,” he said. “The more people get vaccinated, the more we will be able to reduce the spread of the disease.”
The chief minister also told Modi that the vaccination drive has to be organised as a “war-level effort”.
“I hope the support that the Centre had extended to Delhi would continue and you would respond positively to my request,” he said.
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