New Delhi:

Nearly 17.14 lakh people – from India’s general population – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the first three days of the second phase, as the country’s vaccination graph continues to improve.

The increase is evident on the ground, and especially at private hospitals, where long queues can be seen all day which are seeing long queues all day.

In Delhi, daily vaccinations at private centres have seen a huge jump from the initial 150 per day, with prominent hospitals like Apollo and Max vaccinating nearly 600 each on Thursday.

“People in the senior citizen age group have been coming out in huge numbers and we are trying our level best to ensure the process is smooth for them. Initially there were hiccups in the system and that was expected… but now I think it is gradually becoming better,” Dr Sahar Qureshi, Medical Superintendent at the Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in Delhi’s Saket, told NDTV.

“We are carrying out approximately 400 vaccinations per day and that number is increasing with each passing day. So far we have vaccinated more than 2,000 people,” he added.

The rush at private hospitals has now compelled many – like Indira Agarwal, 65, a retired teacher and her husband Pradeep, 65, a retired banker – to turn to a government hospital like LNJP.

Mrs Agarwal said: “There is a huge rush in Max Hospital. Phoenix Hospital also has long queues. People told us that one has to wait for several hours. So we thought it is best to get vaccinated here. Why go there and wait? Here at LNJP there is social distancing as well as cleanliness.”

Apart from members of the public, several high-profile figures also got vaccinated today.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Himachal Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal, and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha all got their shots.

Doctors say the increase in the number of people turning out is also the result of the public’s growing confidence in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, particularly after seeing senior leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind getting vaccinated.

“For the last two to three days a lot of people have been coming. They have seen both the Prime Minister and many Chief Ministers getting vaccinated. A lot of people’s confidence has been boosted because of that reason. People are coming in huge numbers,” Dr Suresh Kumar, the Medical Director of the LNJP Hospital, told NDTV.

India aims to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people by July and the positive start of the second phase of the vaccination drive is a good sign.