Bengaluru has reported the second highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations given to beneficiaries living in Indian cities after national capital New Delhi. As of 6 pm on July 28, Bengaluru, including the few areas falling within the Bangalore Urban DC limits, reported that 82.67 lakh vaccine doses had been administered. This means, around 85% of the eligible population has been given at least one shot of the vaccine, be it Covaxin, Covishield or Sputnik, according to state government estimates. In comparison, New Delhi has reported 98.37 lakh jabs while Mumbai has administered 71.97 lakh jabs. Kolkata (44.6 lakh) and Chennai (38.26 lakh) are two other cities with a high number of vaccine doses administered by 6 pm on July 28.
While the vaccine coverage and numbers in Bengaluru are good in comparison to other big cities in India, the number has been steadily declining over the past month. BBMP officials told TNM that they are getting fewer number of vaccine doses from the Union government, via the state government. Another issue that has come to fore is that an overwhelming number of vaccines have been given to paid private facilities, meaning those from lower income households have lesser access to the jabs. The problem is most acute in the 18-44 age category, where government facilities are yet to fully start inoculating this age group, barring some exceptions made for certain priority groups.
Decline in numbers
Over the last 30 days, the number of daily vaccines given on average has been gradually reducing. The daily average number of doses administered in a 10-day period starting June 28 was 77,618. But the daily average number has steadily declined to 64,942 for the 10-day period starting July 8 and further to 49,747 doses average daily for the 10-day period starting July 18.
Govt vs private
A senior BBMP official told TNM that 45% of all vaccines given under BBMP limits were administered in paid private centres, including those arranged by private firms or apartment associations. “As of Monday, total vaccination in BBMP limits was 70,10,512. The number in private centres was 31,36,095 while government centres gave 38,74,417 jabs,” the official told TNM.