The Capital which is at present under the grip of the third and the most deadly phase of Covid-19 can be vaccinated in a month after vaccination begins, Delhi’s state immunisation officer Suresh Seth has said. The Capital has enough infrastructure to cover the entire population in a month if hospital staff and nurses are roped in, the officer has said. And the infrastructure is adequate to vaccinate all healthcare professionals in just three days. Delhi’s Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, meanwhile, has been chosen as the first vaccine storage facility.
There are 600 cold storage points and around 1,800 outreach sites which have been used for the immunisation for children.
> While these will be used, according to Centre’s vaccination drive draft, school campuses will also be added to the existing vaccine infrastructure.
> At present, Delhi government is collecting data of healthcare workers who will be vaccinated first.
> The facilities in Delhi can store vaccines at two to eight degrees Celsius.
> Delhi government’s Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital will be converted into a Covid-19 vaccine storage centre, reports said. The centre will become functional by mid-December.
Most vaccines in India need to be stored at a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius. The lowest minimum temperature at which vaccines can be kept to maintain the cold chain in most areas in the country is minus 25 degrees Celsius as there is only one vaccine in India — Bharat Biotech’s Rotavirus vaccine — which needs to be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius.