E-Paper
Covid-19 vaccine drive in Karnataka hits a roadblock over insufficient supply: Report
Karnataka planned to vaccinate 7 lakh people daily after June 21. But not even 50% of the target could be reached due to the non-availability of vaccine doses, the report noted.
Karnataka’s Covid-19 inoculation drive has hit a new roadblock, following the further dwindling in numbers of vaccine doses. According to a report in Prajavani today, the state has reached a stage where people who have already received the first dose are nearing the date for their second dose with no solution in sight.
The paper quotes an interaction that officials of the Union health and family welfare ministry had with their Karnataka counterparts in a video conference. This interaction states that Karnataka health department officials had already sent indent for vaccines to the central government but the supply did not match their demand.
“Karnataka has an overall capacity to vaccinate 11 lakh people per day in both government and private facilities. Only on the first day of the ‘Vaccination Maha Abhiyan’ on June 21 did the state reach the 11 lakh vaccinations per day mark. At present only 2 lakh vaccine doses are available,” says Dr. Arundathi Chandrashekar, mission director at the National Health Mission, according to the paper that quoted her.
“On Monday, July 12, the state got 3.40 lakh doses of vaccine followed by 4.80 lakh doses on July 15 (today). They will be distributed depending on the demand from each district based on the number of people who are yet to be vaccinated,” the paper quoted Dr. Chandrashekar as saying.
Northern Karnataka has more demand for vaccines. “In an ideal condition, the state must get 5-6 lakh vaccine doses per day to the government sector and 3-4 lakh doses to the private sector. In June, we got 73 lakh doses out of which 59.98 lakh doses have been utilised. We keep sending indents on a day-to-day basis” said Dr. Chandrashekar.
According to Karnataka health department officials who participated in the video conference with the central health department officials, it was planned that 7 lakh people will be vaccinated every day after 21 June. But not even 50% of the target could be reached due to the non-availability of vaccine doses. On July 14, a total of 1,24,923 people were vaccinated at government centres and 29,696 people at private centres, officials mentioned during the video conference.
