Karnataka revises daily vaccination target as supplies dwindle

BBMP on June 21 vaccinated a record 1,73,045 people, which was the highest in the country among metropolitan cities on that day

Karnataka on Thursday administered about 1.88 lakh vaccine doses till 8 pm, a far cry from its record 11.52 lakh doses on June 21.

The top five districts with the highest vaccination coverage in the state -- BBMP, Mysuru, Belagavi, Tumakuru and Ballari -- have all received dwindling vaccine supplies since the day Karnataka vaccinated the second-highest number of people in the country.

Ballari district, which vaccinated 64,406 people on June 21, received vaccines only five times since then. Its lowest supply was on June 25, when it was supplied only 1,500 doses.

Tumakuru district that vaccinated 51,552 people on June 21, received supplies only six times after that, the lowest on June 29, when it received a mere 6,500 doses.

Data from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) which has administered more than 54.51 lakh doses till date (the highest among all districts in the state), revealed that it has received 45,000 vaccine doses on an average every day from June 21, forcing it to revise its daily target to 50,000 doses from its previous one lakh doses per day.

The BBMP on June 21 had vaccinated a record 1,73,045 people which was the highest in the country among metropolitan cities on that day.

According to the June 30 bulletin of the Palike, Bengaluru (including Bangalore Urban district), has administered 61,43,356 doses and is second only to New Delhi, which has administered 78,91,204 doses.

D Randeep, Special Commissioner, Health, BBMP, said, “We are planning to administer 50,000 doses daily. But since we get the vaccine stock only the previous evening, we dispatch it late in the night and sometimes, the vaccine stocks reach primary health centres only the next day.”

ALSO READ: Covid-recovered patient contracts 'green', 'black fungus'

KC General Hospital, for example, has put out a public notice on its website and on its premises saying it has no stock of Covishield. Its website says: ‘400 doses only for walk-in and 50 doses only for online registration’. Whereas the hospital’s per day capacity is to administer 1,100 doses.

Hospital medical superintendent Dr B R Venkateshaiah told DH, “We ran out of Covishield two days ago and are administering leftover Covaxin doses. We asked for Covishield today too but they (BBMP) said they don’t have any, and that they will get the supply on Friday afternoon. We get vaccines supplied every alternate day.”

“If we are supplied 5,000 doses weekly, it will be convenient. If we indent 1,000-2,000 doses, we get only 960 doses. We administered 1,125 doses on Saturday. The footfall on weekends is high but without adequate supply, we cannot cater to them,” he said.

Sources said the state received eight lakh to nine lakh doses on July 1 and that the BBMP was allocated one lakh doses. The state health department did not reveal the exact amount of remaining vaccine stock with it despite repeated requests.