K’taka administered over 8mn vaccine doses in June: Data

Bengaluru Karnataka has administered over 8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the month of June, registering almost double the growth compared to May in which the state administered just over 4

Bengaluru Karnataka has administered over 8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the month of June, registering almost double the growth compared to May in which the state administered just over 4.2 million doses , according to state government data.

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But a significant number of these doses were administered after June 21, on the day of the nation-wide Maha Vaccine Abhiyaan, initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which a record of nearly 9 million vaccines were administered across the country in a single day.

At least half of the 8 million doses administered in June in Karnataka has come in the last 10 days since the June 21, data shows. Despite the decline in new Covid-19 infections, the state is trying to administer at least one dose to all eligible citizens by the end of the year. Karnataka and its counterparts are trying to increase its respective vaccination drives to insulate as many of its citizens as possible from the imminent third wave of infections, expected to hit around the end of the year.

In one day (June 21), the state recorded nearly 1.16 million doses, from just around 70,000 doses the previous day, indicating the possibility of the BS Yediyurappa government stockpiling vaccines to make the event a success, Hindustan Times had reported on June 22.

But there have been several instances where people, waiting for hours in vaccination centres, were sent back due to the non-availability of doses that shows a rising momentum that has been held back due to supply issues.

“This month we got 6. million doses which the Centre has provided us. We have a lot of demand but (the Centre) has to distribute it to all parts of the country. The 6 million doses that we got, we have administered,” Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka and head of the state task force on Covid-19 told reporters on Wednesday.

He added that private organisations and other corporates have also contributed to around 2.2 million vaccines.

Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s minister for health, family welfare and medical education said that he would visit Delhi on Monday or Tuesday to request the union government for allocation of more vaccines to the state.

“I will be visiting Delhi on Monday or Tuesday and will be discussing with the union health minister to allocate more vaccines to the state. But I have never said we are short of vaccines in the state and we have never stopped vaccinating people. Everyday over 200,000 to 300,000 people are being vaccinated. The moment we get vaccines from the union government, we will distribute them,” Sudhakar said on Tuesday.

According to data on Cowin, Karnataka has so far administered 2,27,00,527 doses of which the first and second dose account for 1,89,63,478 and 37,37,049 respectively.

The estimated population of Karnataka is around 70 million, according to the expert committee on the third wave of Covid-19 infections, which takes the vaccine coverage (both doses) to just over 5.3%.

A senior government official said that Karnataka can administer as many as 600,000 to 700,000 doses per day if doses were available.

“With a little bit of effort, we can go up to 600,000 to 700,000 every day. We are talking about 6 days a week. If you give me 30 million vaccines, we will finish it in two months,” the official cited above said, requesting not to be named.

There are over 13,000 vaccination centres in the state, of which a little less than half or around 6,000 are operational.

However, an official from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said that there were delays and issues of availability of vaccines.

“As per the government orders, we are giving it to a few categories. But according to availability we are distributing it. A few times, the vaccines that we are supposed to get from the government do not come on time or we do not get the right quantity. All this we have to discuss at the government level and explain our situation to them,” Gaurav Gupta, the chief minister of the BBMP said on Wednesday.