Bengaluru health worker gets first Covid shot in K’taka

Following the vaccination, they were kept under doctors' observation for 30 minutes, which is a mandatory requirement of the Union Health Ministry's stipulated standard operating procedures.

Bengaluru: As the country started the Covid-19 vaccine rollout on Saturday, Karnataka administered its first dose of vaccine to Bengaluru’s K C. General Hospital’s ‘D’ group employee, Chandrashekar, while Mallasandra PHC doctor, Komal was the second person to receive it.

Following the vaccination, they were kept under doctors’ observation for 30 minutes, which is a mandatory requirement of the Union Health Ministry’s stipulated standard operating procedures.

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Karnataka is planning to inoculate around 16 lakh people, including healthcare workers and frontline staff, who have already been identified to receive the vaccine shots.

While in Bangalore, 1.71 lakh health workers will receive the vaccine in phase one.

Karnataka has been provided with the Covishield vaccine which will be delivered to the inoculation centres from the cold chain points, health officials said.

The same vaccine will be administered in the second dose after 28 days as well.

As a precautionary step, Karnataka has directed all those who will be inoculated to remain in constant touch with the hospitals where they have been administered vaccines.

Addressing the reporters here, the state’s Health Minister said that the vaccine will be administered in two doses.

“After the first dose, the second dose will be administered after a gap of 28 days. Immunity will develop after 45 days thereafter. One has to be careful until 45 days,” the Minister explained.

He added that the Covishield vaccine will be administered at 237 centres and Covaxin at six centres across the state.

Arrangements for the drive include 10 walk-in coolers, four walk-in freezers, 3,210 ice lined refrigerators (ILRs), 46,591 vaccine carriers and 2,25,749 ice packs.

The state has received Covishield from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Covaxin from the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech to first inoculate the frontline warriors, including healthcare workers, civic and police personnel.

Covishield will be used in 24 of the 30 districts across the state and Covaxin in six districts in the state’s northern, central and southern regions.

Of the 7,17,439 healthcare warriors across the state, 24,300 will be vaccinated on the first day and the rest will be given the first shot over the coming days.

They have all registered on the Co-Win online platform for the vaccine shot.