50 per cent of eligible population got at least one jab of COVID vaccine: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The total number of anti-coronavirus vaccine doses administered in Delhi so far crossed the one-crore mark on Saturday and of the eligible population in the city 50 per cent have received at least one jab, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

He hoped that more jabs will be soon available for the city. "The national capital has a population of about two crore and among them, about 1.5 crore are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination," the chief minister said.

"Out of the 1.5 crore eligible population, 74 lakh have received vaccine doses. So, about 50 per cent have received at least one dose. Of the 74 lakh, 26 lakh have been administered both the jabs. The number of COVID vaccine doses administered in Delhi since the start of the inoculation drive, crossed the one-crore mark today," the chief minister said in an online briefing.

Congratulating the medical staff for administering over one crore doses in the national capital, Kejriwal said there was an acute shortage of vaccines for which inoculation could not be scaled up. "We have the capacity to vaccinate three lakh people daily. But due to shortage, only 50,000-80,000 people are getting the COVID jabs every day," he said.

The chief minister said the Delhi government is in regular contact with the Centre and hoped the city, along with the rest of the country, will soon have adequate vaccine doses. There are two challenges before the government: to vaccinate those who have not yet taken even the first dose and to administer the second dose to those who have got the first jab, Kejriwal said.