Vaccines for 18-44 age group in Bengaluru from today: Sudhakar

Bengaluru: Coronavirus vaccines for people in the 18-44 age group in Bengaluru, which accounts for almost half the number of cases and deaths in State, will be available from May 10 at all major hospitals and medical colleges, according to Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

"Starting Monday, Covid-19 vaccination will be provided to citizens aged between 18 and 44 years of age at K C General Hospital, Jayanagar General Hospital, Sir C V Raman General Hospital, Government Medical Colleges, ESI Hospitals and NIMHANS in Bengaluru," Sudhakar said in a statement on Sunday. In other districts, the vaccine shots will initially be provided at district hospitals, government medical colleges and all taluk hospitals. The number of vaccination centres would be increased as and when more vaccines are available, he added.

All such centres providing vaccination for the 18-44 age group would have an exclusive session site earmarked for them, the minister said, adding the shots would be given only to those who have registered and scheduled an appointment on the Co-Win portal.

The government, he asserted, was leaving no stone unturned to vaccinate every citizen at the earliest and was making continuous efforts to secure supply of vaccines.

Earlier on May 1, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa flagged off the fourth phase of the drive to vaccinate citizens in the 18-44 age group with a promise that the shortage of doses would be addressed soon.

The statement said that the government had already placed orders for two crore doses of Covishield and one crore of Covaxin to vaccinate the estimated 3.26 crore people in this age group.

Those in the 18-44 age group would require 6.52 crore doses in two shots to get fully vaccinated, it said.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures Covishield, has already supplied 6.5 lakh doses and more would be delivered by the second or third week of May, it said.

The virus caseload in Karnataka has been rising at an alarming rate, with the state reporting infections in the region of around 50,000 daily.

Bengaluru has been recording almost half the number of cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic last year.