After repeatedly announcing that the state wasn’t in a position to vaccinate the age group of 18-44 due to shortage of doses, health minister K Sudhakar on Sunday said vaccination will be provided at all major government hospitals and medical colleges from Monday, May 10. At present, very few health centers and private hospitals have slots for this age group.
“Starting Monday, Covid-19 vaccination will be provided for citizens aged between 18 to 44 years at KC General Hospital, Jayanagar General Hospital, Sir C.V.Raman General Hospital, Government Medical Colleges, ESI Hospitals and NIMHANS in Bengaluru,” he said.
“In other districts, initially vaccination will be provided at District Hospitals, Government Medical Colleges and all Taluka Hospitals. Number of vaccination centres will be increased as and when more vaccines will become available,” he added.
All vaccination centres providing vaccination for the age group 18 to 44 will have an exclusive session site earmarked for them. Vaccination will be provided to only those who have registered and scheduled an appointment on CoWIN portal and walk-ins will not be allowed, a statement from the minister’s office said.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa flagged off the fourth phase of the drive to vaccinate the 18-44 age group on May 1. It is estimated that there are about 3.26 crore people in this age group in the state who would require a total of 6.52 crore doses. The state government has placed order for two crore doses of Covishield and one crore doses of Covaxin of which 6.5 lakh doses of Covishield has been supplied by Serum Institute. More consignments will be delivered by the second or third week of May, the minister said.
Meanwhile, around 60 lakh people wait for their second dose of vaccine. With the state government not having sufficient supply, priority has been given for this group earmarking 70% of the available vaccine for them. Karnataka high court had also directed the state and Centre to ensure enough doses available as per the citizens’ second dose schedule.
Those between 18 and 44 are currently being vaccinated in the state at a few centers including private hospitals based on availability. As of May 8, 10,000 people in this age group have been vaccinated with the first dose.
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