Over a week after the administering of precaution doses commenced, over 3.22 lakh people have been given the third dose as on Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
When the government announced the launch of the programme from January 10, the Department of Health and Family Welfare had said that as many as 21 lakh people in Karnataka are eligible for the precaution dose. These included six lakh healthcare workers, seven lakh frontline workers, and eight lakh persons aged 60 and above with comorbidities.
Among the conditions for getting jabbed with the third dose is that beneficiaries will get the same vaccine administered previously, and that they would have to have completed nine months post the previous dose.
Health Minister K. Sudhakar, on Tuesday, appealed to all frontline workers to get the third dose. “If you don’t take it, we can’t tell others to do so. As of now, the percentage of coverage of frontline workers for the precaution dose is 39%. We are not satisfied with this number. The Commissioner has said that in a week or 10 days, it will be taken up as a drive to cover as many eligible beneficiaries as possible,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
On the vaccination of 15-17 year-olds, he said the State average coverage is 62%. But in some districts, it is around 30 to 40%. Directions have been given to improve this percentage, he said.
Meanwhile, eligible senior citizens who have started getting alerts are getting the jab. Doctors said the present numbers are commensurate with the number of those who have completed nine months after getting vaccinated.
Manoj Kumar H.V., MBBS, Dean cum Director Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute, said, “The condition for taking the precaution dose is that they should have completed nine months after the previous dose. So the pace now is the same as what it was nine months ago - i.e. April. Healthcare workers are also taking the dose. Those eligible are receiving auto-generated messages.”