With the surge in covid 19 cases, the Karnataka government decided to start with precautionary doses of vaccine for the vulnerable group. The Corbevax vaccines were supplied to the state at the beginning of January and had been sent to the districts. The vaccine administration has started for a few days, and as of Wednesday, only 553 doses were administered. During the first week of January, the Health and Family Welfare Department released a circular stating that the Corbevax vaccine can be given as a heterologous preventive dose as per the guidelines of the Government of India. Therefore, as per the guidelines of covid 19 vaccination for those above 60 years of age, immunocompromised individuals, and healthcare workers who received the second dose of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines after completion of 6 months or 26 weeks and did not receive a preventive dose, Corbevax can be given. Vaccination will be done only in district hospitals and taluk hospitals, as decided by the district.
However, out of the 32 districts in the state, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) division, over 21 districts have not taken any doses so far. While 30,000 precautionary doses have been provided by the Centre, only 553 doses have been taken so far. Dr Naveen Bhat Y, State Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), said, “We have administered 553 doses as of Wednesday, out of which Mandya has achieved the highest with 239 doses. 21 districts have taken zero doses given in this batch.” Surprisingly, Bengaluru urban and BBMP, which constitute the major population and are comparable to the other districts, saw zero takers of the precautionary doses of vaccines. In order to create awareness and bring in more people to take the precautionary doses, Dr Naveen said, “Regular press briefings and IEC coverage are being done at the district level to motivate people to come and take booster doses. Especially those front-line workers who are not covered are being motivated to come and take the booster dose.”
“They are not being serious about it because many people now understand that the disease is now mild,” a health department official stated. We don’t even see people wearing masks. What matters, though, is that the elderly and those with comorbidities are more susceptible. People with comorbidities are reporting COVID-19-related deaths. Thus, it is crucial that members of this group receive vaccinations. As per the Cowin portal, Karnataka has administered dose one vaccinations to 5,51,74,903 individuals since the commencement of COVID-19 immunizations following the first and second waves. 5,53,91,955 was the second dose that was finished. In excess of 1,15,86,381 doses were administered as a precaution.
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