Karnataka to procure 30K doses of precautionary Covid vaccine

Aiming to protect the high-risk category of people and those with comorbidities, the state government will soon procure 30,000 doses of the precautionary Covid vaccine. 

The precautionary dose, which will be provided to those who have already taken two doses of vaccine, will help boost their immunity. 

“We will prioritise those with comorbidities, those who have been prescribed immunosuppressants, and the elderly. The precautionary dose will provide them an additional layer of protection,” Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Tuesday. 

Considering that the health department and medical education department staff are more likely to be exposed to the virus, the government will also administer flu vaccines to all those working in these departments. 

The department is also ramping up the medical infrastructure in the state to handle any surge in Covid cases. 

Dedicated Covid wards will be set up at Victoria Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, as well as district and taluk hospitals. The health department will also procure four mobile oxygen generators to ensure there is no shortage of oxygen. 

“These mobile generators can be moved across the state, wherever there is a necessity. We have also asked the hospitals to check the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen-generating plants and liquid medical oxygen supply for any repairs or licence renewals,” Rao said. 

The health department is also seeking support from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) to manage the situation. “IISc and ISI shall be asked to come up with a Covid prediction model in light of the new JN.1 variant detected in Karnataka,” a statement by the health department said. 

The department is also reviewing the reports from the sewage surveillance being conducted across Bengaluru. 

Genomic sequencing at BMCRI

Noting that genomic sequencing was crucial to determine the virus strain in the state, the health department has decided to increase the sampling capacity of the state. So far, samples were being sent only to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru. Going ahead, the state health department has asked the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) to start genomic sequencing.