Covid vaccination at 3,000 centres from March 8, target to vaccinate 1.5L people each day: Karnataka Min

Contact tracing will also be made more robust and the Centre has directed to trace 20 primary and secondary contacts for each positive case

Covid-19 vaccine will be administered at around 3,000 centres, including primary health centres, taluk hospitals and district hospitals, starting Monday, said Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar adding that the state has set a target of vaccinating 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh people a day.

The minister held a meeting on Saturday to review the Covid-19 situation and progress of the vaccination drive. With 3,000 centres identified for the drive, Sudhakar urged people to come forward in large numbers to receive the vaccine jab. “We had only 300-350 centres, so far. From Monday, there will be a tenfold increase,” he said.

In the last several weeks around 200-250 cases were reported in BBMP limits every day, which suddenly increased to 400 on Friday.

According to BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad, “A total of 12 clusters have been identified in BBMP limits and testing will be increased to 40,000 a day from the existing 30,000. No new cases have been identified in these clusters. We will work out a strategy to test targeted populations. ILI and SARI cases will be the focus. We have already trained 300 hospitals to provide vaccine. On Friday, 11,000 people were vaccinated. In the next 10 days this will be increased from 60,000 to one lakh. We have a blueprint ready for that,” he said.

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The health minister said contact tracing would be made more robust. “The Centre has directed the states/UTs to trace 20 primary and secondary contacts for every positive case. All these 20 contacts will be subjected to Covid-19 tests,” Sudhakar said.

The challenge is due to the influx of people from neighbouring states of Kerala and Maharashtra, which are witnessing a surge in Covid cases. He said along with strict measures at borders, restrictions on large gatherings would also be tightened. “Avoid large gatherings, and agitations at least for next one month. Not more than 500 people will be allowed at large gatherings and we will speak to the police department on strict enforcement of this rule,” said Sudhakar.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will hold a video conference with deputy commissioners of the districts where positivity is high. Since there are more inter-state travellers to Mangaluru, testing will be ramped up there, he said adding that instructions had been issued to Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Udupi, Kodagu, Belagavi and Tumakuru to be more vigilant.

Sudhakar said vaccination drive would be ramped up with the support of Revenue, Transport, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj departments.