Vaccination for 18+ in Karnataka starts from today, shortage likely to interrupt the drive

Bengaluru: On Sunday, health minister K Sudhakar said that the vaccination drive for those above 18 years of age will begin from Monday in government hospitals.

But, the government officials have affirmed that there would not be sufficient vaccines to conduct an uninterrupted vaccination drive in the coming weeks.

This is the second start of the campaign in 10 days. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, on May 1, soft-launched the drive with 3.5 lakh doses and only 10,000 in the targeted group have been jabbed till now.

There are 3.2 crore people in Karnataka who belong to the 18-44 age group and the government needs at least 6.5 crore doses to cover the two-dose regime. As there is a shortage of vaccines, the government, on Saturday, has decided to vaccinate only those above 45 years with the available stock.

Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar said, “Given the situation, we cannot offer assurance that vaccination for 18+ will be continuous from Monday. The best we can assure (citizens) is that we will provide vaccines based on availability and hold sessions as and when we get delivery (of vaccines).”

In a tweet, Sudhakar has said that the government has placed orders for 2 crore doses of Covishield, and Serum Institute of India has delivered 3.5 lakh doses on Saturday night. The government has also placed an order for 1 crore doses of Covaxin but it is not clear as to when it will be delivered.

According to the senior officials, the next consignment of Covishield with 3 lakh doses is expected in the third week of May. But it is not sufficient to speed up the vaccination process as the state is witnessing around 50,000 cases every day.

Co-Win registration is a must, no walk-in for 18+ 

The minister has informed that those above 18 years will get the vaccination at major hospitals like KC General, Jayanagar General Hospital, Sir CV Raman General Hospital, ESI Hospital and NIMHANS in Bengaluru and also district hospitals. At a later stage, the government will also allow taluk hospitals and primary health centres to give vaccination.

Beneficiaries must register on the CoWin app and no walk-in is permitted for those above 18 years. The minister said, “The government is leaving no stone unturned to vaccinate each and every citizen at the earliest. I urge my young friends to make use of the opportunity.”

As people rushed to the CoWin portal, the scheduling of time slots was not possible as it displayed: “No vaccine centre is available for booking.”

Officials informed that they were distributing vaccines among the centre till Sunday night and the portal would permit the booking once they are done with the distribution.