BENGALURU: The Karnataka government is all set to carry out the Covid-19 immunisation programme, armed with the infrastructure and the experience of two dry runs - the second one planned for January 8.
The state is well prepared for vaccination and the government is also checking the efficiency of micro planning for administration of the vaccine, Commissioner for Health, Pankaj Kumar Pandey said.
“The immunisation for pulse polio was carried out in the state earlier and it was well-planned. Similarly, the state will carry out the covid vaccination drive. We are expecting the process to go on smoothly,” he said.
His comments days after the Centre said it the vaccine would be rolled out around 10 days after it granted approvals. However, the Centre has not yet specified which vaccine will be used. Currently, approvals have been given for Covishield, which is manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India and developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca.
A source said all districts are continuously monitoring activities such as communication planning, cold chain, micro planning of vaccine logistics. Staff and infrastructure are also in place.Pandey said that so far, 6.3 lakh health care workers have registered. “More or less all health care workers have been registered. In the first phase, health care workers will be administered the vaccine, followed by front line workers. However, there is no official communication yet as to which vaccine is going to be rolled out,” he said.
Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar has said that in the third phase people age above 50 years and those with comorbidities will get the jab. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has the highest number of health workers - 1,03,468 - both government and private, followed by Mysuru with 32,153, Dakshina Kannada with 30,070, Shivamogga with 20,549, Kalaburagi with 15,902 and Bengaluru Urban with 15,856.
The number of health workers registering has seen a decline from December 25. The number was on December 11 with 1,16,336 beneficiaries registered. December 25 saw just 1,658 people signing up, which declined to 188 on January 3.