A minimum of one-third of the population of the city of Bengaluru has been administered the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 as of Sunday while the second dose has been given to a very less number, as per the official data.
According to the Department of Health, the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and the online platform of Co-WIN, a count of 38,34,843 have been administered the first dose which extends to both Bengaluru Urban and BBMP). The figures account for nearly 34 % of the targeted population, which is around 1.1 crore people above 18 years of age.
BBMP Commissioner, Gaurav Gupta revealed, “At the current pace, by June-end, 50 per cent of all adults in BBMP would have received at least one dose. The drive would continue further to cover the maximum possible population. For the second dose, we would like to keep the pace till the job is done.”
According to the official data, a mere 7,37,521 people, or 6.6 per cent of the target population, have completed both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine.
With the increased gap between two doses of Covishield to 12 – 16 weeks, most of the people jabbed with the first dose, will not be eligible to receive the second dose, said Epidemiologist Giridhar Babu. The gap between two doses of Covaxin is 4 0 6 weeks.
Based on the calculations, the city should vaccinate 92,000 people daily to attain the target of completing both doses of the target population of 18 and above as of December 31, 2021.
The BBMP is vaccinating 95,000 people daily from May 28 under the limits of the corporation, revealed BBMP data. Although dosage numbers surpassed 1.10 lakh on certain days, the numbers were significantly less on other days, like on June 6, 43,968 doses were administered.
Alongside, the state of Karnataka is lagging in the vaccination drive. From the target population of 7.08 crore, 1.69 people have received the preliminary dose and 30.9 lakh have received the second dose.