While Facing the shortage of vaccines in many states, the Karnataka district officials heaved a sigh of relief when they received about 3 lakh doses of COVISHIELD from the Centre. According to the Health Ministry, Karnataka has received three lakh additional Covishield doses from the Centre, for the 45 plus age group, Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday.
In a Twitter handle, the minister said, ''Karnataka received 3 lakh doses of Covishield today under the Central quota. Total Covishield doses received from the Centre is 1.05 crore. Total Covishield purchased directly by the state is 13.54 lakh.'' According to Sudhakar, the state government has received 13.1 lakh Covaxin doses so far.
The state government has placed an order of 3 crore vaccines comprising two crore Covishield and one crore Covaxin. In addition, the state has decided to float a global tender for two crore vaccines.
There is an acute shortage of vaccines in the state which forced the government to suspend the vaccination drive for 18 to 44 except the frontline workers and a select group of people. Further, In order to meet the requirement, the government invited Bharat Biotech to set up its Covaxin manufacturing unit at Malur in Kolar.
The state has set a target to vaccinate all the eligible groups by the year-end. Karnataka is among the states with high COVID prevalence. The state on Monday reported 25,311 new infections and 529 fatalities. There are 4.40 lakh active cases in the state.
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