Pic: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru/Udupi (MS)
Mangaluru/Udupi, Jan 17: As many as 515 health workers received vaccines during the vaccination drive against coronavirus that began in district and taluk centers of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on Saturday, January 16.
In Dakshina Kannada, 229 people were vaccinated on the first day, while the figure for Udupi district was 286.
In Dakshina Kannada vaccination was administered in Wenlock hospital of Mangaluru, primary health care center at Surathkal, taluk hospitals of Bantwal, Beltangady, Sullia and Puttur. Udupi vaccination was administered in Udupi district hospital, Dr TMA Pai Hospital, Kundapur taluk hospital, and Karkala government hospital.
In Dakshina Kannada 20 people got vaccinated in Ayush hospital of Wenlock, 45 people at primary health care centre Suratkal, 40 at Bantwal taluk hospital, 35 in Belthangady taluk hospital, 45 in Sullia taluk hospital and 44 in Puttur taluk hospital.
Though 600 people registered themselves for the vaccination, only 229 got it administered. RCH officer Dr Rajesh said that one more opportunity will be given to those who hesitate to take the vaccine on Saturday. Once the programme of the first phase of vaccination gets over, they will be rescheduled.
In the district of Dakshina Kannada, 52,381 people have registered to get vaccinated in the first phase. In the second phase officers and staff of government departments, including revenue, civic administration and police will be vaccinated. Registration process has started through the app. The list needs to get ready by January 20. By January 25, demand for vaccines should be submitted on the app. This information was given by district nodal officer Dr Rajesh.
In the district of Udupi, 286 people were administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine. DC Jagadeesh said that a second dose will be administered to these people after 28 days.
DC Jagadeesh was speaking in the programme organized at the district hospital in Udupi. He further said, "On the first day 538 people were vaccinated. However, as some Anganwadi and health workers hesitated to take the vaccine, the target could not be achieved. They will be convinced and vaccinated in the next phase. In total 53% of the target people have received vaccination in the district. In TMA Pai hospital 83% of the target was achieved. It is really commendable that all the 38 people who registered themselves in Kandlur center took the vaccine."
Giving details of the vaccination process, DMO Dr Sudhirchandra Sooda said, "One person was vaccinated every three minutes. The programme will continue on Sunday also in some centers. From Wednesday, this process will be continuous. In the first phase, vaccination will be given to 22,333 health workers. At present 12,000 vials of vaccine are available in the district.
"One vial of Covaxin contains 10 ml in which 20 people can be vaccinated. One vial of Covishield has 5 ml, which is sufficient to vaccinate 10 people. List of beneficiaries in second phase, including frontline warriors, will be finalized by January 20."
DMO Dr Sudhirchandra Sooda, officer of mother and child welfare department Dr M G Rama and Covid nodal officer Dr Prashanth Bhat were among eminent persons who received the vaccine on the first day.
62% frontline workers got 1st jab of vaccine in state
Meanwhile, Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar on Saturday said nearly 62 percent of designated frontline health workers were inoculated but not a case of serious side effect was reported across the state as part of the first day.
He was speaking to the media after the video conference with the union health minister Harsh Vardhan here.
"Volunteers turning up in such large numbers (62 per cent) was indeed unexpected by any stretch of my imagination. I did expect an encouraging response but surely, it was not as big," Sudhakar who himself is a medical professional revealed.
According to the minister, Karnataka had sent information to 21,658 people for first day vaccination out of which 13,408 have been turned up.
The minister claimed that across the state among all districts barring Bengaluru, Kodagu district has recorded highest number of vaccination with 84 per cent, followed by Uttara Kannada with 80 per cent while and Dakshina Kannada records least turnout registering just 34 per cent.
In the case of Bengaluru civic body jurisdiction, it recorded an average 65 per cent turnout while Bengaluru city stands at 53 per cent vaccination and Mallasandra primary health centre recorded lowest turnout at just 28 per cent vaccination.
"People should come forward voluntarily to take the vaccine. There is no side effect or serious threats reported anywhere. In some cases, swelling is reported while taking the jab which commonly occurs, when someone gets injected," he said.
"All precautions have been taken in case of any side effects. 20,000-30,000 people have been involved in clinical trials. There is no need to panic at all. The vaccine is most affordable at Rs 210 in our country. In other countries, it is almost 10 times more. People with comorbidities will be covered in the next phase," Sudhakar said in response to a question.
Appealing people to not to politicise the vaccination drive, he added that vaccination drive will resume in government hospitals from Monday while some of the private hospitals will continue on Sunday.
"Vaccination is voluntary and not mandatory. Vaccination is completely safe and no side effects have been found till now," he said.
The minister also said Karnataka has received eight lac doses of vaccine and 7.43 lac people have been identified for the first phase of vaccination.
"We have requested the Central government to provide additional eight lac doses of vaccines," he said.
The minister visited Jayanagar General Hospital, St. John's Hospital and K.R. Puram Hospitals to review the vaccination process.
According to the health department, Covishield will be administered in 237 centres and Covaxin in six centres in Bellary, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Chamarajnagar and Davanegere.
A total of 7,17,439 health warriors will be vaccinated in the first phase and we have received 8,14,500 doses of vaccine and the initial phase is expected to complete within a week.
In Bengaluru, 1.71 lac health workers will receive the vaccine in phase one. Karnataka has been provided with the Covishield vaccine which will be delivered to the vaccine centres from the cold chain points on the day of vaccination. The same vaccine will be administered in the second dose after 28 days.