Not many takers for booster shots in Karnataka as they aren’t free for all adults

Only 8,041 individuals between 18 to 59 years of age have taken the Covid-19 booster dose in Karnataka as of April 14, five days after the union government allowed private hospitals to administer the precautionary dose to all adults for a fee.

Not surprisingly, 6,994, or 86.97%, of these doses were administered within BBMP limits. Bengaluru has the highest number of private hospitals and thereby private vaccination centres.

Dr H M Prasanna, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), said they were still compiling data on unused vaccine doses from the 6,000-odd member hospitals in the state, including 500 in Bengaluru. Only 152 hospitals have replied so far, he added.

“During March-end, private hospitals had two lakh unused vaccine doses. The top five hospitals with the highest number of unused vaccine doses were Manipal, Sparsh, Apollo, Blossom and Narayana Health,” he said.

Read | 85,000 took Covid precaution dose in four days, experts urge to expand coverage

After Bengaluru, Mysuru administered the second-most doses at 351, followed by Bengaluru Urban (334) and Dakshina Kannada (188). All other districts either exhausted doses in single or double digits. Sixteen districts haven’t administered any doses. Tumakuru administered one dose and Kodagu two doses.

Dr Keshavaraju G, District Immunisation Officer, Tumakuru, said the poor response was probably because people were still not ready to pay Rs 386.25 per dose and might be waiting for the government to make it free for all adults.

“Also, there is no fear of Covid here. In the past, the private sector suffered losses because the doses were left unused,” he added.

Only cities like Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru where the concentration of private hospitals is high and the purchasing power of people is relatively higher will pay for the vaccine, he said.

Dr Gundawadi Kesar Singh, District Immunisation Officer, Vijayapura, said none of the seven private hospitals in the district which administered Covid vaccines earlier had procured the doses. Consequently, Vijayapura hasn’t administered any booster shots to people from the 18-59 age group.

Dr Singh said: “Private hospitals here say nobody will come forward to pay Rs 386.25 per dose. Also, the service charge is too low for them to cover their operational expenses and maintain the cold chain.”

In the Dharwad district, only three private hospitals have procured booster doses, said Dr S M Honakere, District Immunisation Officer.

“We have received many queries on when the precaution dose for the 18-59 age group will be administered in government hospitals. Until then, we don’t think it will pick up,” he added.

In all, only 27 precautionary doses have been administered to the 18-59 age group in the Dharwad district so far.

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