Karnataka Chief Secretary admits to major vaccine shortage
Only 8 lakh doses for 45+ group received in last 12 days, and only 7 lakh doses for 18-44 group received so far, says ‘helpless’ Chief Secretary Ravi Kumar
BENGALURU:
From putting on a brave front on a clearly stuttering vaccination drive, the Karnataka government has for the first time gone on record to admit its helplessness in vaccinating all those in the 18-44 and 45+ age groups, as the ordered supply of doses from the manufacturers has not yet been received.
Speaking to local Kannada channels, Karnataka’s Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar said as per the Central government’s programme of free vaccines to the 45+ group, the state has to receive 15 lakh doses every 15 days. However, the state has received only 8 lakh doses in the last 12 days, he said.
“We will give the second dose to those who have already taken the first dose. The state has received only 80,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine in 15 days and we expect to receive another 7 lakh doses in 3 days,” Kumar maintained.
Mission Impossible?
The Chief Secretary said, “We don’t even have vaccine supplies in our hands. Two vaccine manufacturer companies (Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech) are producing the vaccines, of which they give 50% to the Central government and sell 50%. These companies have said they will increase the vaccine supply by July. Karnataka is not the only state in the whole country which is facing a vaccine shortage. The Central government is distributing the vaccine to all states on a population-proportionate basis.”
The Chief Secretary said the state government is buying the vaccine for the18-44 group and has already placed an order for 3 crore doses. “As of Tuesday, the state has received 7 lakh Covishield doses. The state requires 6 crore doses to vaccinate people in the 18-44 age group. It is not possible to bring and keep the vaccine at once. It will take at least four months to vaccinate 3 crore people,” Kumar said.
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