The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) aims to vaccinate 1.25 lakh people as part of its 'COVID-19 Lasika (vaccination) Mela' in Karnataka on Friday. The state government is also launching a vaccination campaign across Karnataka to reach out to more people who have been left out of the vaccination drive so far. Officials said preparations are being made at zonal levels to achieve the intended target. Measures are being taken to vaccinate people at various sites including primary health centres and ensure no inconvenience is caused. The campaign is aimed at reaching all the health and frontline workers who are yet to take the first dose or those whose second dose is pending.
“The required quantity of vaccines will be provided to each ward in advance. Arrangements have been made to provide vaccines through additional vaccine session sites along with required staff support,” an official said. The drive will cover the teaching and non-teaching staff of all government/aided/unaided schools too, with schools resuming offline classes for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday met Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and requested him to supply five lakh vaccine doses daily for the month of September. In the meeting, Bommai updated the Union minister on measures taken to control spread of the pandemic. "I told him that the state has planned five lakh vaccinations a day from next month. And the minister has assured support to meet the demand of the programme," Bommai told reporters after the meeting.
Mandaviya informed that the Union government will give more doses of vaccines from September-October onwards to all states, including Karnataka, he said, adding that the state will start preparing for this programme immediately. Earlier, the Union government had provided 3.5 lakh doses of vaccine a day. Last week, it was increased to 4-4.5 lakh doses a day. "Yesterday, we touched 5 lakh doses a day. In future, we plan 5 lakh doses a day," Bommai said.
(IANS and PTI inputs)