BENGALURU: Nine districts in Karnataka have completed 100 per cent first dose coverage among the adult population eligible for Covid-19 vaccination, Health Minister V Sudhakar said. These include Bengaluru Urban with 129 per cent (excluding BBMP limits), Gadag and Vijayapura with 102 per cent each, Bidar and Bagalkot with 101 per cent, in the top five. The state average is 97 per cent, and all districts have crossed 90 per cent. Sudhakar congratulated all health workers and district administrations for their hard work.
Door-to-door vaccination programmes helped improve state coverage, said Arundhathi Chandrashekar, Managing Director, National Health Mission. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns involving influencers, helped nudge eligible people to come forward and get jabbed. However, nine districts fall below the state average and the worst performing is BBMP, which is also the highest contributor to Covid-19 cases in Karnataka.
As per data, 92 per cent or 84,22,262 first doses were administered here, out of the target of 91,70,000. Floating and migrant population is one of the reasons for this, according to Chandrashekar, who said many are vaccinated in other districts or even in Bengaluru Urban, which borders BBMP limits. The minister had earlier predicted that all eligible adults will be vaccinated with both doses by December-end last year, a goal Karnataka was unable to achieve.