Senior citizens, health care workers and frontline workers arrived in good numbers as a total of 6,841 people received the precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on the first day of the drive that began on Monday. While 2,524 people received the precautionary dose in Dakshina Kannada, 4,317 received it in Udupi district.
A good number of senior citizens turned up to receive the precautionary dose at the AYUSH Block of the Government Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru on Monday morning. One among them was 65-year-old K.R. Kamath. He was the first to receive a token after the Health Department staff verified if the beneficiary had received his second dose nine months ago.
As Mr. Kamath entered the vaccination room, Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra followed him along with Fisheries Minister S. Angara and Mayor Premanand Shetty. Dr. Rajendra enquired about the health and vaccination status of Mr. Kamath, before a senior staff nurse of Wenlock Hospital administered the precautionary dose.
After Mr. Kamath, Mangaluru Taluk Health Officer Sujay Bhandary and Mangaluru City Corporation COVID-19 Nodal officer Annayya Kulal received the precautionary dose.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Angara called upon all beneficiaries to voluntarily come forward to take the precautionary dose. Vaccination is a good way to ward off the threat from COVID-19, he said.
A total of 10,021 people were vaccinated in Dakshina Kannada on Monday taking the number of vaccinated people to 30.68 lakh. Of these, 16.95 lakh are in the 18-44 age category, 8.06 lakh in the 45-60 category and 5.03 lakh aged 60 and above. There are 63,475 in the 15-17 year category.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer M. Kishore Kumar said that steps are being taken to give the first dose to around 80,000 people aged above 18. A large number of school and college drop-outs fall in this group. A gram panchayat-wise list of these people have been made. Vaccination for this group will be carried out along side vaccinating those in the 15-17 age group and also giving precautionary doses, he said.
In Udupi district, 9,951 people were vaccinated on Monday taking the total number of vaccine recipients to 18.67 lakh. While 9.57 lakh are in the 18-44 age category, 5.01 lakh are in the 45-60 category. There are 3.74 lakh people aged above 60 and 34,480 in the 15-17 age group.
Energy, Kannada and Culture Minister V. Sunil Kumar told reporters that Udupi district administration has vaccinated more than 60% of beneficiaries under the 15-17 category. “If vaccines are available, the remaining 20,000 beneficiaries will be vaccinated in a week’s time,” he said.
