7 lakh vaccine doses available with Karnataka: Health department

After the Union health ministry, in a reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on July 27, said that more than 2.98 crore vaccine doses were supplied to Karnataka as of July 25, and the CoWIN dashboard showed more than 2.95 crore doses already having been utilised, the state health department maintained that as of date, 4.12 lakh doses are available in state.

Additionally, the received 2.9 lakh doses of Covishield on July 28, said a senior health department official in a note to DH's queries on the state's vaccine availability. "The state will not run short of vaccines," she said.

The official explained that under the government quota, as of July 28, the state has received more than 2.56 crore doses to vaccinate people at government Covid vaccination centres (CVCs). "Total vaccines allocated till August 4 is more than 42 lakh, in which, the state is yet to receive 4.94 lakh doses under Government quota," the official said.

The next tranche of supply is expected on August 4 for Covaxin. "For the month of August till September 2, the state will receive 42.6 lakh doses of Covishield and 6.12 lakh doses of Covaxin."

The Union health ministry sent a letter on July 14 to states/UTs expressing serious worry over slow pace of procurement and administration by private Covid vaccination centres in some states.

A top government bureaucrat told DH, "Out of 6.5 lakh doses paid for, it is yet to receive supplies of four lakh odd doses."

When the health department held a series of meetings with FICCI, and IT/BT association (since they are in a position to pay for vaccinations), the associations said there was a slump in demand as 80% of their IT employees had already been vaccinated or have moved out of Bengaluru because of work from home norms.

"Last month, we had administered 18.5 lakh doses in the private quota and there is a dip this month, no doubt. The associations say there will be a demand for private quota vaccines again in August as IT employees will be due for the second shot," he added.

He also attributed the dip in private vaccination to the government's 'free vaccination drive'. MSMEs want the government to foot their vaccination bill as they can't afford the prices in the private quota. "A family of four cannot afford Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 just to get the first doses," the official said.