The Karnataka government on Wednesday announced that it will be temporarily stopping the vaccination for those aged between 18 and 44 in all government centres in the state starting May 14, to prioritise the vaccination of those above 45 who are due for their second dose.
"All vaccines available with the state government (ie. supplied by Government of India and procured directly by state) will be utilized for vaccination of beneficiaries due for 2nd dose. In this regard vaccination for 18 to 44 age group (including those who have already booked appointments) will be temporarily suspended from 14.05.2021 till further orders. This order will be applicable for COVID vaccination at all Government COVID vaccination centers in the state," read a statement by the Karnataka Health Department.
For the information of general public
— K'taka Health Dept (@DHFWKA) May 12, 2021
The state government on 07.05.2021 decided to utilize the complete supply of vaccines provided by Govt. of India for vaccination of persons above 45+ years, for vaccinating beneficiaries who were due for second dose.
In this regard vaccination for 18 to 44 age group (including those who have already booked appointment) will be temporarily suspended from 14.05.2021 till further orders.
— K'taka Health Dept (@DHFWKA) May 12, 2021
This order will be applicable for COVID vaccination at all Government COVID vaccination centers in state.
"The state government on 07.05.2021 decided to utilize the complete supply of vaccines provided by Government of India for vaccination of persons above 45+ years, for vaccinating beneficiaries who were due for second dose. Today the state government has decided that the vaccine procured directly by the state for vaccination of persons between 18 to 44 years will be utilized for vaccination of beneficiaries who are due for second dose," added the statement.
As per the Karnataka Health Department's bulletin on May 12, 70,371 people in the age group of 18-44 have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination so far in Karnataka. This includes 20,599 people in Bengaluru.
Vaccination for those in the age group of 18-44 started earlier this month. However, the three crore doses ordered by Karnataka could take months to arrive, according to a statement by the Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, reported in Deccan Herald.
Bengaluru Urban is one of the worst affected districts in the second wave of the pandemic in India. The city currently has 3.6 lakh active cases and it reported 16,286 cases on Wednesday. This figure however is lower than the number of cases reported in the city up to last week which was regularly over 20,000.