MP Tejasvi Surya calls off paid vaccination drive amid backlash

Bengaluru At a time when Karnataka has been facing a severe shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, a mass paid vaccination programme initiated by South Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya was called off after facing severe backlashes from all quarters on Tuesday

Bengaluru

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At a time when Karnataka has been facing a severe shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, a mass paid vaccination programme initiated by South Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya was called off after facing severe backlashes from all quarters on Tuesday.

That Surya had access to Covid-19 vaccines while government hospitals did not, attracted criticism from residents and experts alike. Many took to social media to express their displeasure, blaming that the BS Yediyurappa-led administration failed to ensure supplies to public hospitals while allowing private interests to prevail.

“Please note that there will be no vaccination drive at Shalini Grounds today. A link to register for appointments on the hospital portal will soon be updated. Please circulate this message and ensure the right message reaches the public. Thank you,” the office of Surya tweeted on Tuesday.

Surya could not be reached for a comment. His office, however, told HT that several private hospitals in Bengaluru have been conducting similar vaccination drives.

“We are partnering with a few small private hospitals and nursing homes, helping them conduct vaccination drives in order to vaccinate maximum number of people at a faster pace. We’re partnering with smaller private hospitals and nursing homes with the intention of reaching out to middle-class families of Bengaluru South who may not always visit a large corporate chain and are more familiar with the neighbourhood nursing homes,” the office of Surya told HT on Tuesday.

It added the MP’s office was also working with the government to ensure steady supply of vaccines.

The controversy came at a time when Bengaluru and the rest of Karnataka, which are among the worst Covid-19 impacted regions in the country, have been facing acute shortage of vaccines. Several vaccination centres across the state, and particularly in Bengaluru, were unable to inoculate people citing lack of stocks for nearly a week.

Meanwhile, Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s minister for health, family welfare and medical education, said the state received 125,000 doses of Bharat Biotech-manufactured Covaxin on Tuesday under the central quote. “Total Covaxin doses received under Central quota is 12,91,280. Total Covaxin doses received under direct purchase is 1,44,170,” Sudhakar said in a Twitter post.

On Monday, Karnataka received 300,000 doses of Covishield vaccine from Pune-based Serum Institute of India, taking the total Centre’s allocation to the state to 10.5 million. In addition, Karnataka has also procured 1.35 million doses through direct purchase, officials said.

“Daily vaccine production capacity: 28.3 lakh doses. Daily vaccines being administered: 12-13 lakh. Only 43%. Where are the remaining doses? Not getting produced? If so, what is the Govt doing? If yes, they are busy producing positive perception,” Krishna Byre Gowda, former minister and Congress legislator from Byatrayanapura in Bengaluru, said.

Karnataka has so far administered 12,310,317 vaccine doses, of which only 2,636,589 persons have received both doses, a coverage of just around 4%, according to government data. Only 64156 doses were administered in Karnataka till 3.30 pm on Tuesday, according to the daily bulletin of the state health department.

In Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) area, 2,395,207 doses have been administered, of which 559,008 persons have received both doses, according to data. Only 1249 persons received the second dose in Bengaluru, data shows.

Several Bengaluru residents complained of having to wait for hours at crowded vaccination centres and return home without getting inoculated. One of the problems they cited was difficulties to secure a slot on CoWIN app, which the Karnataka government was trying to circumvent by building an interface. However, the proposal was yet to see any progress, leaving much of the state to depend on CoWIN app as confirmation of registration and appointment are a must to get a jab. More so, it also acts as a pass that allows movement of people during the statewide lockdown, which has been extended till June 7.

The state government has prioritised the second dose for those above 45 years of age. The vaccination drive for an estimated 35 million people in 18-44 age group has been initiated and called off at least thrice since May 1, with only a handful of private hospitals, which managed to procure vaccines on their own, continue to administer doses to this age group.

In Karnataka, the daily infection count has declined over the past few days, but experts said it was too early to celebrate pointing at the fatality rate still being above 2% consistently for the last three days. The state like other parts of the country was relying on vaccination in its battle against the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Karnataka reported 22,758 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the active caseload to 424,381. Bengaluru accounted for 6,243 new infections, which pushed its active caseload to 219,551. At least 26,399 people have died due to Covid-19 in the state so far, including 588 in the 24 hours on Monday. Bengaluru accounted for 350 new fatalities on Tuesday, according to health department data.