Bengaluru Urban (excluding the BBMP) has become the first district in Karnataka to provide its entire population with at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.
As many as 10,67,106 people in areas outside BBMP limits in the district have received their first dose, as against the adult population of 10,62,262, shows the data on the Co-WIN portal as of 6.30 pm, Monday.
The vaccine coverage has exceeded the total population possibly because many of the people who got the jabs may have been migrant workers or visitors.
Excluding the BBMP, Bengaluru Urban has one city municipal council, six town municipal councils, 87 gram panchayats and more than 1,000 villages.
The number of fully vaccinated people in Bengaluru Urban (excluding the BBMP) stands at 3,04,251. The rest of the people are waiting to complete the 84-day period between doses, Deputy Commissioner J Manjunath said.
He attributed the vaccine coverage to proactive measures. "Even before the second wave struck and when vaccines were in abundance, we sent awareness vehicles to villages to educate people (about taking the vaccine)," he said.
People were taken to the nearest primary health centre, vaccinated and dropped back home. This gave the district a head start. When the devastating second wave started, the clamour for vaccines grew louder and elected representatives began vying for vaccines for their constituencies, Manjunath said.
The district authorities also conducted vaccination camps at large companies like Biocon and Mylan Labs, which have over 1,000 staff.
"These places manufactured essential Covid drugs like Remdesivir. Companies with a high concentration of frontline workers were vaccinated on priority," Manjunath explained. "We got industries in Electronics City to buy vaccines from their CSR funds, and tied up with private hospitals to administer the jabs."
Non-governmental organisations like One Billion Literates Foundation, United Way and Give India procured vaccines and gave them for free, he said.
Health survey
As part of Covid containment strategy, doctors employed by district authorities went door to door in villages to survey people's health status. Residents were screened for ILI (influenza-like illness) and SARI (severe acute respiratory infections). Officials also made it a point to check if any eligible individual is due for the second dose.
"All this ensured higher vaccination coverage. Vaccine doses were exhausted on the same day they were supplied," he said.
The district also recorded negative vaccine wastage and used up the additional doses provided by manufacturers.