Bengaluru: On Saturday, Karnataka’s chief minister BS Yediyurappa said that the problem of shortage of vaccines will be sorted out within three days.
Yediyurappa made this statement one day after he informed about the delay of vaccination drive for those above 18 years of age as the vaccine has not yet been supplied to the state.
He said, “I have come here to make a symbolic start of the vaccination drive for people above 18 years of age. As per the directions of the government of India, the drive to vaccinate people about 18 years of age is starting from today.”
He has also said that his government will give free vaccines to people about 18 years of age.
Even though there was a stock of one lakh vaccines in Karnataka, the state has received three lakh vaccines from the Centre.
About the fully operational vaccination drive for those above 18 years, the chief minister stated that the state government has paid money to purchase two crore vaccines.
He said, “I am 100 per cent confident that things will improve in the next two to three days. I have set a target to vaccinate 3.26 crore people of the state.”
Yediyurappa also said that strict action will be taken against those who are into the black marketing of Remdesivir injection, which is necessary for Covid-19 treatment.
About the shortage of beds, the CM stated, “I am going to discuss with Dr Devi Shetty and the head of 8 to 10 big hospitals at 4 pm today, the shortage of bed and oxygen to find a solution.”
The vaccination drive for those above 18 years of age could not be fully operational as vaccines did not arrive from the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech.
The state is also counting on Dr Reddy Laboratory, which has got the contract to produce Russia’s Sputnik vaccine.
Karnataka is in a hurry to vaccinate all the people as the state witnessed more than 48,000 cases on Friday while 217 people died. There are nearly four lakh active cases in the state now.
Bengaluru alone contributes to half of Karnataka’s Covid-19 tally, fatalities and active cases.
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