Karnataka vaccine drive sputtering amid poor supplies

Karnataka is getting less than half of the doses it requires to sustain its Covid vaccination drive, according to sources in the government.

In the last 14 days, the state has been administering about 2.56 lakh doses on average daily, according to official statistics. One officer in the government said that Karnataka had actually asked the Centre to supply five lakh doses per day - based on the consumption in the state.

“Although the Centre has agreed, the supply has not increased so far,” the officer, who did not want to be named, added.

The deficit in supply means that whatever doses are coming in are used up in a span of a few days. The problem of high usage is also challenging the state’s ability to build up an adequate reserve of vaccine doses which it can use to plug the gaps.

Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar acknowledged that there were no vaccine reserves. “We are distributing the entire stock of vaccines available,” he said, adding that the state has so far received 43,21,690 doses for government use since June 21, when the Centre took over procurement.

An officer added: “All doses we receive are used up. The quantity of supply is evident in the dosage figures being achieved everyday.”

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Nevertheless, data shows that the state is attempting to retain a small portion of doses in order to service the population on the following day. On Monday night, for instance, Karnataka received 3 lakh doses from the Centre. Out of this, 1.51 lakh doses were administered as of 8 pm on Tuesday night. “Any balance will be used to cover shortfalls in subsequent days,” an officer explained.

In B’luru

In Bengaluru Urban, vaccination rates have dipped sharply since July 11. Whereas the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) administered 75,938 doses on average per day between July 4 to 10, the rate has fallen to an average of 48,197 doses since.

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“The demand for vaccinations cannot be described as surging, but at the same time, what we have gotten has not been enough,” explained Dr Sudarshan, Reproductive and Child Health Officer (RCHO), BBMP, who helps manage the ongoing vaccination programme in the city.

“We have made an effort to increase the number of doses at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) from 200 to 300. Today, we were allocated 57,000 doses by the state government and the doses were duly sent out. But in the last two to three days, the supply did not meet demand levels,” he added.

At Bommanahalli Zone on Tuesday, the shortages were stark. “I received a message saying that I was eligible to get my second dose today,” said Mohammad Asim. “I went to three PHC’s this morning. None had any vaccines. I am now worried.”

At KC General Hospital in West Zone, doses ran out at around noon after 123 people were jabbed. Dr B R Venkateshaiah, Medical Superintendent said that between 200 and 300 people who were given tokens were sent home on the assurance that they will be vaccinated in subsequent days. “If we are supplied 5,000 doses per week, we could effectively plan,” he said.

On Tuesday, 39,785 doses were administered in BBMP limits.