• 90,082 remaining to get first dose; 5,83,184 yet to take second jab
• 40,043 doses wasted in Mysuru, DHO claims number is negligible

Mysore/Mysuru: Only five districts in Karnataka have achieved 100 percent vaccination of first dose for the entire population so far.

As per the data released by the Health and Family Welfare Department last evening, Bengaluru Urban stood at 127 percent, Gadag – 102 percent, Vijayapura – 101 percent, Kodagu – 100 percent and Bagalkot – 100 percent.

Mysuru, with a target population of 24,38,000 stands at seventh place with 96 percent of first dose (23,47,918) and 76 percent second dose (18,54,816). Still there are 90,082 people remaining to get the first dose and 5,83,184 beneficiaries who are yet to take the second dose.

Chikkaballapura (99%), Belagavi (98%), Davanagere (98%), Dharwad (98%) and Kolar (98%) are the other districts to have inched closer to the 100 percent (first dose) coverage mark.

Mysuru lags behind despite the best efforts of the District Administration, Health Department and the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) that have been conducting special vaccination drives and micro-planning the jab drive.

“We are trying hard to vaccinate the maximum population by the end of December and have covered 96 percent of our population with the first dose,” District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. K.H. Prasad told SOM this morning.

“Micro-planning at the district and city level and despite efforts to increase last-mile coverage and taking vaccines to the doorsteps of people, Mysuru’s vaccine coverage is low, though it is above average in Karnataka,” DHO Dr. Prasad added.

Mysuru district has 450 vaccination points and 170 cold chain points for vials and despite this, people are only trickling in, he said.

Vaccine wastage

Meanwhile, a report from Bengaluru stated that Karnataka is one of the 11 States that has wasted more than 1 lakh doses of vaccine. As per CoWIN portal data, as on Dec. 18, the State wasted 1,29,261 doses with Ballari topping the wastage chart (61,203), followed by Koppal (45,080), Mysuru (40,043), Hassan (34,985) and Davanagere (27,609).

Health Minister Dr. K Sudhakar’s office has clarified that all the 1,29,261 wasted doses were that of Covaxin.“The reason why Covaxin is being wasted is because we are mostly getting 20 dose vials. In most places, we are not getting 20 people to come at once. The preference has shifted to Covishield and only second dose recipients of Covaxin are coming,” the Minister’s office said.

Mysuru DHO Dr. Prasad said that the wastage percentage is negligible. “When compared to the number of vaccines administered in Mysuru (42,02,734 including both first and second dose), the wastage percentage (40,043) is just 0.01 percent. Each vial can administer 10 doses and there is a small wastage when vaccine is drawn by vaccine administrators into the syringe. Wastage is bound to happen in any vaccination programme,” he claimed.