Karnataka's daily Covid-19 vaccination count for first dose slumps 40% in July

Amid concerns over vaccine shortage, data shows that Karnataka's daily vaccination count has slumped in July compared to June.

Against the daily average of 2.66 lakh first doses administered in June, only 1.58 lakh doses were given per day in the first 26 days of July, a fall of nearly 40 per cent which is hard to bridge in the next five days.

In the first six months of 2021, Karnataka administered the maximum number of first doses in June (79.70 lakh) whereas the maximum number of second doses were given in May (11.75 lakh).

The second highest second doses were given in April (11.53 lakh). This is because on May 17, the Co-WIN portal was reconfigured to prevent the booking of second doses before the expiry of a minimum 84 days after the first dose of Covishield while Covaxin recipients continued to follow a four-week gap between doses.

But a majority (2.47 crore) are Covishield recipients as opposed to (35.75 lakh) Covaxin recipients.

A Victoria Hospital doctor said their facility's figures also mimic the state-wide trend. "Second dose recipients are far and few in between as we ourselves sent them back, for they were not eligible yet for the second shot in June," he said.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

He pointed out that there was also no supply of Covaxin in June which has improved now. On Friday, the hospital was supplied 1,000 doses each of Covishield and Covaxin, while as many as 560 were vaccinated.

Some people preferred Covishield after reports surfaced that Covaxin did not have WHO approval. "As the preference of Covishield increased over Covaxin, the footfall of first dose recipients increased over second dose," the doctor said.

KC General Hospital authorities on the other hand said they were stretched beyond their capacity of giving 400 doses per day. "Daily, we are administering 800-900 vaccine doses. So the supply is proportionate," said medical superintendent Dr B R Venkateshaiah.

The private sector aided in coverage as long as there was seamless vaccine supply from the government. However, when left to fend for themselves in terms of procurement, it affected coverage. Frequent change in procurement policies also had a bearing on vaccination.

Dr Prasanna H M, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) said, "The private sector contributed the most to vaccination coverage in April and May when there was adequate supply and the vaccines were not as expensive as they are now. Also, second-dose recipients throng the private sector and don't mind paying when there aren't adequate doses in government hospitals."