NEW DELHI: With the government offering precautionary doses free of cost at the government hospitals, there has been reported a spike in the number of booster doses. A large number of people in the 18-59 age group have come forward to get the dose.
According to the government health department official, with the rising number of cases, the number of people coming forward to get the booster dose has also increased. On Tuesday, a total of 15,603 precautionary doses were recorded at government hospitals while 2,367 doses were recorded at private hospitals.
North West Delhi recorded the maximum number of such doses where 2,618 people were jabbed and 610 doses in a private hospital in South Delhi. Around 611 people were jabbed in a government vaccination camp in East Delhi which was the lowest; meanwhile, private hospitals in Shahdara had no takers for the jab. The administration of the precautionary doses was low when the government announced the precautionary doses for the 18-59 age group only in the private hospitals.
“Now more people are coming in to get the precautionary doses since it has been made free in government hospitals. A majority of the population coming for the third dose are youngsters,” said an official. “There is also an increase in cases now. Whenever cases go up, there is also an increase in vaccinatios,” he added.
Earlier, the precaution dose was available free of cost only to those above 60 years of age, healthcare workers and frontline workers earlier. Last Thursday, the government announced that the booster doses will be available for free to all eligible beneficiaries aged between 18 and 59 years in all government centres.