As many as 4.04 lakh people were vaccinated in the mega vaccination programme taken up in around 2,200 sites across the city on Friday to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had set a target of administering 5 lakh doses. However, by 9 p.m., 4,04,496 were vaccinated. With this, Bengaluru now stands first in the country’s vaccination count.
A release from the BBMP said that to reach the vaccination target, the drive will be held again on Saturday in the city. Friday’s record vaccinations, the release said, was 2.5% more than the previous drives.
There were as many as 1,893 vaccination sites in government healthcare facilities and 301 in private institutions. A mega vaccination camp that will work round-the-clock was inaugurated at the Kabaddi Grounds in Malleswaram. This is the second such centre, with the first already functioning in Yelahanka. Minister for Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan inaugurated the centre that has a drive-in and walk-in facility.
Revenue Minister R. Ashok, who visited a vaccination site, told reporters that such vaccination drives would be planned at the Assembly constituency level, with the target of vaccinating the eligible population by December end.
BBMP’s chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta said that 24 NGO partners had joined hands with the civic body for the vaccination drive. He said that BBMP was targeting to administer at least 200 doses in each of the vaccination sites in the city. He said that 81% of the eligible population had already received the first dose.
