Of 41 cops who died of COVID this year, 28 had not taken vax, 7 were one dose in

New Delhi: That the second wave of the pandemic has exacted a heavier toll from the Delhi Police is now on record with 41 police personnel succumbing to the disease this year so far compared to 36 in all of last year.

Significantly, this year, police personnel had an added weapon — vaccines. Despite this, of the 41 cops who died of Covid-19 this year, data has now revealed that 28 had not been able to get even one dose of the vaccine.

As per official records, the Delhi Police has seen at least 13,758 personnel test positive for the virus since the pandemic began last year, of which 77 have died, 13,457 have recovered and there remain 224 active infections in the force.

"28 of the police personnel who died this year had not taken the vaccine. And we also came to know that many of them were having comorbidities," one official said.

Meanwhile, the data further shows that of the deaths this year, seven had taken their first dose of the vaccine and six had taken both doses.

When asked if there was any vaccine hesitancy among police personnel, senior officials said their personnel did not believe any myths about the vaccines and claimed that 90 per cent of the force had been vaccinated. They added that those who contracted the infection after their first shots are being taken care of and their second dose appointments are being postponed as per government guidelines.

"Those police personnel who saw the present wave, clearly know the importance of the vaccine. Vaccination helps us in the fight against COVID 19," one senior official said.

In Delhi Police's vaccination drive, the force has set up special camps for personnel and their families, prepared care facilities and is bearing treatment costs of all personnel one way or the other. The police force has made five walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centres for the family members of the police personnel who are aged 45 years and above.

The department has also directed that counselling be carried out for police personnel and their family members to step up vaccination efforts in the districts that were lagging.

Meanwhile, various steps have also been taken for financial assistance for family members of police personnel who died due to COVID-19. "We are taking various steps for the safety of police personnel," officials said.

Sharing the experience of policing during the lockdown, the Delhi Police said while personnel performed their duties, it was noticed that they and their families were themselves going through palpable fear and anxiety. The first case of positive COVID diagnosis within police personnel added to the existing stress and it was clear that physical healthcare of police personnel and their family members and removing fear and anxiety was as important as the performance of their duties, officials said.

"The department ensured that the emergent needs of their families were taken care of while they were admitted in the hospital. Simultaneously, steps were taken to arrest the spread of the virus and boost their immunity," one official said.

Across the force, officials said that they had never experienced a situation like the pandemic before and that the closest that they had ever trained for were the restrictions imposed during a curfew and thus a few instances of policemen overreacting to violations came to notice. It was necessary to reach out to police personnel on the ground and explain to them how to deal with the new situation with a positive frame of mind, one official said.