<p>Although Karnataka’s contribution to India’s 100 crore Covid-19 vaccination achievement is only about 6.19%, data shows that it is among the top five states in the country to vaccinate more of its people per million.</p>.<p>Telangana leads the pack in having vaccinated 9.50 lakh people per million with at least one dose and 3.77 lakh people per million with a second dose. It is followed by Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Karnataka, meantime, has administered 8.73 lakh people per million with a first dose and 4.34 lakh people per million with a second dose.</p>.<p>Up to Thursday evening, the state had dispensed about 6,21,33,863 doses since the vaccination programme began on January 16 (out of this 2,06,32,427 are second doses). The numbers include about 1.55 lakh doses administered on Thursday, amid state-sponsored celebrations across the country over India’s milestone achievement. </p>.<p>Out of the total achievement so far, 5,48,50,536 doses are of Covishield, followed by 71,83,116 doses of Covaxin and 1,00,211 doses of Sputnik V. </p>.<p>Dr Arundhathi Chandrashekar, Director, National Health Mission said that the vaccination drive was aided in substantial part not only by political and administrative consensus on the importance of vaccinations but also by fear of infection in the second wave, which induced a large percentage of the population to get at least one dose of a vaccine. </p>.<p>As per official data, the state’s first dose coverage had reached 83.35% as of Thursday and 41.44% for the second dose. Updated information from the government shows that four districts (Kodagu, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Ramanagar) had achieved first dose coverage rates of over 90%, while Bengaluru Urban district had achieved coverage over 100%.</p>.<p><span class="bold"><strong>Challenges</strong></span></p>.<p>“We faced a lot of challenges in the early stages,” explained Dr Arundhathi Chandrashekar.</p>.<p>"There was much misinformation about the vaccines, which led to vaccine hesitancy among healthcare warriors because they feared that vaccines had been prematurely authorised. Then there were persistent vaccine shortages and a problem of equal distribution across districts. We also had the challenge of having to train a large number of staff in just 10 to 15 days at the start of the vaccine drive.”</p>.<p>Dr C N Manjunath, member of the state Covid-19 Task Force, described the vaccination drive as a complex exercise involving managing supply chain, demand-supply management, operations management, motivation management among health workers. "There was a high level of vaccine hesitancy, but the government managed to create awareness among the people and ensured that they came to vaccination centres,” he said.</p>.<p>Another Committee member, Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman of Manipal Hospitals called the vaccination programme “a Herculean effort to complete a billion vaccinations in just nine months.”</p>
<p>Although Karnataka’s contribution to India’s 100 crore Covid-19 vaccination achievement is only about 6.19%, data shows that it is among the top five states in the country to vaccinate more of its people per million.</p>.<p>Telangana leads the pack in having vaccinated 9.50 lakh people per million with at least one dose and 3.77 lakh people per million with a second dose. It is followed by Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Karnataka, meantime, has administered 8.73 lakh people per million with a first dose and 4.34 lakh people per million with a second dose.</p>.<p>Up to Thursday evening, the state had dispensed about 6,21,33,863 doses since the vaccination programme began on January 16 (out of this 2,06,32,427 are second doses). The numbers include about 1.55 lakh doses administered on Thursday, amid state-sponsored celebrations across the country over India’s milestone achievement. </p>.<p>Out of the total achievement so far, 5,48,50,536 doses are of Covishield, followed by 71,83,116 doses of Covaxin and 1,00,211 doses of Sputnik V. </p>.<p>Dr Arundhathi Chandrashekar, Director, National Health Mission said that the vaccination drive was aided in substantial part not only by political and administrative consensus on the importance of vaccinations but also by fear of infection in the second wave, which induced a large percentage of the population to get at least one dose of a vaccine. </p>.<p>As per official data, the state’s first dose coverage had reached 83.35% as of Thursday and 41.44% for the second dose. Updated information from the government shows that four districts (Kodagu, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Ramanagar) had achieved first dose coverage rates of over 90%, while Bengaluru Urban district had achieved coverage over 100%.</p>.<p><span class="bold"><strong>Challenges</strong></span></p>.<p>“We faced a lot of challenges in the early stages,” explained Dr Arundhathi Chandrashekar.</p>.<p>"There was much misinformation about the vaccines, which led to vaccine hesitancy among healthcare warriors because they feared that vaccines had been prematurely authorised. Then there were persistent vaccine shortages and a problem of equal distribution across districts. We also had the challenge of having to train a large number of staff in just 10 to 15 days at the start of the vaccine drive.”</p>.<p>Dr C N Manjunath, member of the state Covid-19 Task Force, described the vaccination drive as a complex exercise involving managing supply chain, demand-supply management, operations management, motivation management among health workers. "There was a high level of vaccine hesitancy, but the government managed to create awareness among the people and ensured that they came to vaccination centres,” he said.</p>.<p>Another Committee member, Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman of Manipal Hospitals called the vaccination programme “a Herculean effort to complete a billion vaccinations in just nine months.”</p>
