Manufacturers of Sputnik V willing to supply COVID-19 vaccines to Delhi: Kejriwal
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Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the manufacturers of Russian COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V are willing to supply the vaccines to Delhi but still, talks are going on about the quantity.
'We are still communicating with people from Sputnik. Yesterday our officials had a meeting with people from Sputnik. They are willing to give the vaccines but still, talks are going on about the quantity,' Mr Kejriwal told reporters here.
Speaking at the launch of Delhi's first drive-through COVID-19 vaccination centre at Vegas Mall in Dwarka, Mr Kejriwal said, 'Moderna and Pfizer have declared that the trial for their vaccines is complete and that their vaccines are also suitable for children. But these vaccines have not been given permission to be administered in our country. I believe that the Central Government should not delay this and all the internationally available vaccines should be allowed to be used in our country, especially whatever vaccines are suitable for children.'
Mr Kejriwal today inaugurated the drive-through COVID-19 vaccination centre at Aakash Hospital, Sector-12, Dwarka.
The Delhi Chief Minister said, 'A drive-through vaccination Centre has been initiated. I hope
this will help a lot of people in Delhi. Soon, similar vaccination centres will be opened and these are expected to assist several people.'
He said the only difficulty is that of vaccination supply.
'There is an acute shortage of vaccines, especially for those between 18-44 years. The government has provided Covishield for those above 45, which will last for a few days. I hope the Central government is making efforts to give Delhi maximum vaccines as soon as possible,' Mr Kejriwal said.
'The vaccination speed has reduced as centres have closed, not just in Delhi, but across the country. Ideally, this would have been the time when we should have increased the number of centres, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Therefore, I hope vaccines are supplied on a war footing,' he said.
Mr Kejriwal said, 'We have already written, more than once, that Delhi needs 80 lakh vaccines per month, but the paucity of vaccines remains a constant challenge.'
He said the lockdown cannot be extended indefinitely. 'People's livelihood is suffering, their
businesses are shutting down -- we will have to see how much unlocking can happen, but if we are to connect it to the vaccination, we do not know how long the vaccines will take to arrive,' Mr Kejriwal said.
He added, 'In my view, there are 2-3 such drive-through vaccination centres; one is in Chhatrasal, which will open on Saturday and some others will open in the private sector. Please note that we
can open as many centres as possible, but we need to have enough vaccines in stock. Here, at the Vegas Mall, vaccines are free for the underprivileged but will be paid otherwise.'
