The state ranks sixth in coverage; Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are on top two
With the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Karnataka crossing the seven crore mark on Saturday, the state is moving towards achieving 100% immunization. As of 6 pm on Saturday, 2,83,338 doses were given, taking the total number of doses to 7,01,99,026. Of these, 2,65,27,346 are second doses.
With a target population of 4.89 crore, the state had the task of administering a total of 9.78 crore doses (inclusive of first and second doses). With 7.01 crore doses administered till Saturday, the state has achieved a cumulative coverage of 71.67 per cent. The challenge is to administer the remaining 2.76 crore doses. Till Saturday, the state had a stock of 90,76,172 doses.
Currently, the state ranks sixth in the country after Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar. On September 17, during the mega immunization drive on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, the state crossed the five crore mark. The state is organizing special vaccination camps every Wednesday with a target of 10 lakh doses. Though not many people are coming forward to do the jab, the state has been able to deliver around five to six lakh doses every Wednesday.
The COVID-19 vaccination was started on January 16 for healthcare workers followed by frontline workers in the first and second phases. Of the 8,98,717 health workers targeted so far, 77% have been fully vaccinated, while 85.1% have been given the first dose. More than 96% of the targeted 8,69,700 frontline workers have been fully vaccinated.
last mile issues
Arundhati Chandrasekhar, state mission director of the National Health Mission, said, “Though more than 40 lakh people in Karnataka are to be given a second dose, it has become a challenging task for the state to get them vaccinated as people are not coming forward.” With the decline in the number of new cases, people have become reluctant to get vaccinated. To motivate those who have not yet been vaccinated, the government has started door-to-door ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign.
“This is a national campaign that will go on till November 30 as the trend is the same across the country,” she said.
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