India / COVID-19 vaccine to be free for Delhiites in govt hospitals: Deputy CM Sisodia

New Delhi: Coronavirus vaccines will be available for free for all in Delhi at government facilities. The announcement was made by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday as he presented the Delhi Budget 2021. He added that Rs 50 crore will be allocated for the vaccination drive in Delhi.

"The Delhi government has allotted a Rs 50 crore budget for the same. Soon, per day vaccination will be increased to 60,000 from 45,000," Manish Sisodia told the Assembly.

Currently as many as 192 hospitals in Delhi are administering the coronavirus vaccine to people. Out of that 56 are run by the Delhi government. People over 60 years of age and in the age group of 45-59 years with comorbidities are being administered the coronavirus vaccine.

This announcement is in line with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's hints of giving COVID-19 vaccine for free to Delhiites.

Apart from free vaccines, the government also announced an outlay of Rs 9,934 crore for the health sector. This amounts to 14 per cent of the total budget outlay of Rs 69,000 crore.

Manish Sisodia also announced that 100 mohalla clinics dedicated to women will be opened soon in Delhi in the first phase. He said that the number will eventually increase to comprise at least one mohalla clinic in each of the 272 municipal wards.

Sisodia also announced a cloud-based Health Information Management System (HIMS) and digital health card.

The nationwide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, with healthcare workers getting inoculated first. Vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2. In the latest phase that started on March 1, people over 60 years and 45-59 years of age with comorbidities are being vaccinated.