Karnataka's first Covid-19 vaccine batch to be Serum Institute of India's Covishield

The first batch of 13.90 lakh vaccines to be delivered to Karnataka is to be Covishield, an official confirmed

The first batch of 13.90 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines that will be delivered to Karnataka will be Covishield, officials said on Sunday, as the state was all set to receive the shipments expected to arrive on Monday.

"The first batch will be the vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India,” said Dr Rajani Nageshrao, Deputy Director, Immunisation, adding the government has only been contacted by the Serum Institute and not Bharat Biotech which has developed Covaxin.

Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, who carried out final inspections of vaccine storage facilities on Sunday, said he expected the vaccination drive to last several months. He also added that not everyone in the state would require vaccination and that expert opinion would be sought on the matter.

"Healthcare workers will be given the vaccine on priority. It will take 2 months to vaccinate the public," Dr Sudhakar said.

The expected shipment of 1,39,200 vials (each containing 10 doses) will be split into two. About 11.34 lakh doses will be stored at the state’s primary vaccine stores in Bengaluru and the remaining 2.5 lakh doses will be stored at the secondary vaccine store in Belagavi and further distributed to eight district vaccine stores.

From Belagavi, they will be sent to 29 block vaccine stores and 671 cold-chain points in Bagalkot, Gadag, Koppal, Vijayapura, Dharwad, Haveri and Uttara Kannada districts.

Supplies to the remaining 22 districts will be made from the Bengaluru State Vaccine Stores.

In these districts, the supply chain comprises four Regional Vaccine Stores (RVS) ( Chitradurga, Kalaburgi, Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru), one Corporation Vaccine Store (under the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), 21 Block Vaccine Stores and 2,096 cold-chain points.

Bengaluru Urban has 194 cold-chain points, 94 of which are in BBMP limits.

Bengaluru storage

State Vaccine Stores (SVS) in Bengaluru comprise a 30 cubic metre walk-in cooler and a 16 cubic metre walk-in cooler plus a 32 cubic metre walk-in freezer, with a second walk-in freezer due for delivery from the central government.

A health officer told DH that the two walk-in coolers can together hold nearly 55 lakh vials. “This is more than adequate for the 9.37 lakh pulse polio vaccines currently in storage and the 11 lakh Covid vaccine vials expected for Phase 1 deployment,” he said.

Dr Sudhakar said that the vaccine will be sent out to the regional storage centres through 900 vaccine carriers.

“It will be further distributed to district centres from there. Twenty-four lakh single-use syringes have also arrived. Thirteen lakh syringes have been delivered. The remaining 11 lakh are to be distributed to the Chitradurga RVS, plus the BBMP and the Ramanagara district stores on Monday,” he said.