BBMP plans to fully vaccinate 50% of Bengaluru's population in 2 months

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has said that it will try to fully vaccinate 50% of the city’s population in two months. So far, about 18% of the population in Bengaluru has received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 62% has received one dose, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said.

“If we vaccinate 90,000 people in a day, it will be considered as 1% of the eligible population,” the Commissioner told the Times of India. “So, to complete second doses for 50% of the eligible population, we will need anywhere between 45 to 60 days,” he added. According to Gupta, to fulfil the goal, Bengaluru will need “anywhere between one lakh to 1.5 lakh doses” every day. In order to meet the demand, the BBMP chief said that they have spoken to the government to increase supply. He added that the demand for the vaccines from those seeking the first as well as second doses will only increase in the near future.

Explaining why fully vaccinating 50% of the population will take more than 45 days, he said that the number of vaccinations that occur in a day depend not only on the supply, but also on whether individuals have completed the stipulated time between doses. This period-- between 12-16 weeks for Covishield and 28 days for Covaxin-- is extended if the individual has contracted COVID-19 during this time. Apart from this, several people are yet to receive their first dose, he said. 

On Tuesday, 37,509 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Bengaluru city. This takes the total count of doses administered to 87,27,437, of which 68,92,724 have received the first dose, and 18,34,713 have received the second dose. On August 3, Bengaluru Urban reported 477 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of active cases in the district to 12,28,515. Seven people succumbed to the disease, taking the total death toll to 15,892.