BENGALURU: Even as Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar maintained that there is no shortage of vaccine, officials, including Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, spoke about the glaring lack of supplies to the State. While the State demanded three crore doses, only seven lakh have been sent by the Centre, with the allocation to Bengaluru at only 40,000 doses.
A BBMP official told The New Indian Express, “If we have to be comfortable, we need 1-1.3 lakh doses, but we are getting 30,000- 40,000 every day. Private hospitals should share their stock, procurement and vaccination details with the government. But there is no cooperation.”
The website will also be designed to address concerns regarding geographical shifting and stop people from one locality registering for vaccines in another locality, city or town. The details of the website’s programming and contents were discussed at a meeting of CM B S Yediyurappa, his cabinet colleagues and officials on Wednesday evening.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said, “The government and BBMP are doing all they can. The supply position is being pursued aggressively.”Ravi Kumar said three crore doses were demanded, but only seven lakh were given. So far, 86 lakh people, who are 45 years old and above, have got the first dose, while 22 lakh have taken the second dose. Over 15 lakh shots should arrive within this week.He said that 3.5 crore doses are needed for 18-44 age group and three crore for above-45 age group. For those above 45, the Centre has allotted 13 lakh doses of Covishield and one lakh doses of Covaxin.
Of them, seven lakh doses of Covishield and 80,000 doses of Covaxin have arrived. The focus now is on giving people the second dose, he added.“The government permission to import vaccines is also being sought. The vaccines are being sent based on production and population of the state,” he said.Dr Ranganath S, nodal officer for vaccines at BMCRI, said they have vaccines only till Thursday. “We have not received any communication.”