Kejriwal govt to turn polling booths into vaccination centres for 45+ age group

Polling booths in Delhi will be turned into vaccination centres, and booth-level officers (BLOs) will visit all the households to book slots for people in the 45-plus age group under the 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination' campaign, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

There are 57 lakh people in Delhi in the 45-plus age group and of them, 27 lakh have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine while 30 lakh are yet to get the jab, Kejriwal said in an online briefing.

"We have noticed that people in the 45-plus age group are not coming to vaccination centres set up by the Delhi government and vaccines are not being utilised," he said.

There are around 280 wards in Delhi. The BLOs will visit households in 72 wards from Tuesday to identify and send eligible persons for vaccination at the polling booths, he said.

The chief minister said polling booths are close to the homes of the people, so they will not have to travel long distances to get the vaccine. Also, the government has arranged e-rickshaws to ferry people to the vaccination centres.

The BLOs will give slots for vaccination to people in the 45-plus age group at the nearest polling centre. In a cycle of five days, all the eligible persons will be covered.

"After covering all the 280 wards in four weeks, the government will be able to say that all those eligible (45 years and above) have received the vaccines,” Kejriwal said.

He said a similar drive will be conducted again for second-dose vaccination after three months.