Precaution dose: Over 62% of targeted population covered in Karnataka 

Over 62% of the targeted population in Karnataka due for a precaution (third) dose have been covered so far

Over 62% of the targeted population due for a precaution (third) dose in the State have been covered so far. The Centre rolled out precaution dose administration for senior citizens, healthcare, and frontline workers across the country on January 10.

As of Monday [February 21], the State had a target population of 18,24,236 in these categories who are due for the precaution dose. According to data from the CoWIN portal shared by the State Health Department, the coverage in 16 districts is above the State average of 62% as of Monday. 

While the highest coverage is in Gadag where 77% of the target population has been covered, the lowest is in Dakshina Kannada that has 53% coverage. In Bengaluru Urban district, inclusive of BBMP, the coverage so far has been 60%. While Belagavi, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppal apart from Gadag have a coverage of above 70%, Udupi, Bidar, Haveri and Hassan are inching towards 70%. 

Arundathi Chandrashekar, State Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), told The Hindu on Monday that the target population for the precaution dose keeps changing everyday. This is because the number of eligible persons who have completed nine months after their second dose increases on a day on day basis, she said.

Elaborating on the reasons for the slow progress of vaccination in these categories, the official said many healthcare and frontline workers are not eligible for the third dose as of now although they have completed nine months after the second dose. “This is because many have been infected in the third wave and are not eligible for a precaution dose till they complete three months from the time they tested positive. This three-month window holds good for senior citizens too,” she said.

“Many are unable to take the third dose as their second dose administration is not getting reflected in the CoWIN portal. This is again because they would have taken the second dose with a different phone number. Unless that is sorted out they will not be eligible. We are trying to merge the duplicates but that is a difficult task,” the official said.

Pointing out that the State last month wrote to the Centre seeking cleansing of the duplicate names from the list, she said: “The Centre has not shared with us the line list of the vaccinated population due to privacy issues. We only have a list of those due for a second dose. We have written to the Centre asking if they run the list of those due for a second dose with the list of total vaccinated persons. This will help eliminate duplicate names. We are still waiting for a response.”