BBMP to double daily Covid-19 vaccination rate to 70,000 at its facilities

BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta during a visit to Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru, on Tuesday to discuss the Covid-19 preparations. Credit: Special Arrangement

As the city reports nearly 5,000 cases of Covid-19 every day, the BBMP has decided to ratchet up the vaccination at its facilities.

While the vaccination rate in Bengaluru remains at 35,000 per day, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta on Tuesday instructed all zonal commissioners to double the number to 70,000 vaccination per day.

Gupta was shocked to see just 20 people using one of the three vaccination centres at Victoria Hospital which he visited on Tuesday. Put together, only 100-150 people have been getting vaccinated at the three centres.

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“There’s no way out than to increase our vaccination rate. We don’t know what is stopping people (from getting vaccinated), but we need to step up outreach programmes to draw more people to these centres,” Gupta said.

The top official said that hundreds come to OPDs every day. If the eligible ones in that group are identified, several hundreds can be vaccinated.

“I’ve also instructed medical officers to increase the numbers in existing infrastructure,” he said.

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The civic body will also deploy Asha workers to reach out to the priority groups in the public, Gupta said.

He also directed officials to increase the bed capacity for Covid patients.

“While all the beds at Victoria Hospital were dedicated to Covid patients earlier, only 150 are reserved. The Covid ward is currently full and I’ve instructed officials to increase the bed capacity,” he said.