Karnataka achieves 100% first dose vaccine coverage

It achieved the mark in one year, seven days

Health workers administering the COVID-19 vaccine near Town Hall, in Bengaluru.

Karnataka on Sunday achieved a milestone of recording 100% average coverage of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In doing so, it is the first large State, with a population of more than 4 crore, to achieve this. The State has also achieved 85% average coverage of the second dose of the vaccine.

“The State took exactly one year and seven days to achieve this. I thank all healthcare workers and district administration for making this happen,” said Health minister Dr. K. Sudhakar in a tweet.

However, this does not mean that every eligible person has received the first dose of the vaccine, senior officials from the Health and Family Welfare Department explained. “Based on the 2011 census and extrapolation, we arrived at a target population for each district under every category for vaccination. This is an estimate and not an absolute number. The 100% achievement only means we have covered the estimated target population in the State,” the official explained.

For instance, 12 districts, including Bengaluru Urban, Udupi, Mandya,Raichur, Kalaburagi and Dakshina Kannada, have achieved an average coverage in the range of 97% - 99% of their target population. However, 12 other districts, including Dharwad, Bidar, Vijayapura, Davanagere, Bagalkot, Gadag, Chikkaballapur and Kodagu, have overshot their target and have achieved coverage in the range of 101% - 105%. Thus, the average coverage of all districts for the first dose reached 100% on Sunday.

Bengaluru TPR on decline

Since January 20, the positivity rate of COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru Urban has been on the decline from 25% to 22% on Sunday. After hitting a peak of daily cases of 30,540 on January 20, the number of positive cases has been declining gradually.

Health Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar said he hoped the city had already crossed its peak, but the government could not be sure of this yet. “If the daily cases and positivity rate continue to drop or at least plateau over the next one week, we can say the city has crossed its peak,” he said.

He also added that going by the trend during the last two waves of the pandemic, now other districts are expected to register rising positivity rates. “We were seeing that in districts like Mandya, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hassan and others. Usually there is a lag of two weeks between Bengaluru and other districts,” he said.