BENGALURU: The Karnataka health department managed to successfully utilise maximum stock of Covid vaccines in the past 10-15 days, available in all government hospitals. A stock of 4.3 lakh doses of Covaxin and Covishield were yet to be utilised till January 29, of which 1.1 lakh Covaxin doses were to expire by January 31, and 3.2 lakh Covishield doses were to expire by February 9. Dr Rajini, deputy director (immunisation) said, “We managed to use the entire stock of Covaxin in Karnataka by January 31, without wastage.
As on Wednesday, 26,290 Covid vaccine doses remained to be administered to the people.” She hoped for the remaining doses to also be utilised by the end of the day, to ensure no expired vaccine stock was left at the hospitals. Of the remaining 26,290 doses of Covishield vaccines, only 1,230 doses remained in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) hospitals in the city on Wednesday.
Special Commissioner Dr KV Thrilok Chandra said they had successfully managed to utilise the entire Covaxin stock, and expected to finish the remaining Covishield stock as well in Bengaluru. Since the entire vaccine stock in Karnataka will expire on Thursday, officials said new vaccine stock will only be procured according to demand in public and private hospitals.
Dr Rajini said that despite people being hesitant about taking the third dose, they managed to create awareness by organising multiple vaccine melas and exhausting maximum stock. They prioritised vaccination of elderly and bedridden people in hospitals, and made efforts to vaccinate them, besides other citizens, she added.
The Total Positivity Rate in Karnataka has remained consistently low (under 0.5%) and hence, doctors have said there is no need to worry about a surge in Covid cases in the state. As on February 6, only 25 new active cases were found in Karnataka.