’16 lakh frontline workers in Karnataka to get COVID vaccine in first phase’

Bengaluru: About 16 lakh frontline workers in Karnataka will be administered COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase starting from January 16, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday.

A second dose will be given 28 days after the first jab, he told reporters here after attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s virtual meet with Chief Ministers of various states on the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination roll-out.

“During the first phase three crore people in the country will be given vaccination. In Karnataka, the first phase of administering vaccination to about 16 lakh frontline workers- of health, revenue and police department – will begin from January 16,” Yediyurappa said.

Vaccination will be undertaken at 235 sites in the state, the Chief Minister said, adding both Covaxin and Covishield would be used. Cold chain arrangements have been made and the state and district level task forces will oversee the activities, he said.

The second dry run, an exercise for end-to-end testing of COVID-19 vaccination process, was conducted “successfully” in 281 facilities of 31 districts in the state on January 8, after the first round in five districts on December 2.

State Health Minister K Sudhakar said there was no need to worry and the vaccines were “completely safe”, adding several rounds of clinical trials have been conducted. All the necessary arrangements have been made in the state for the vaccination and the Centre has also assured the state additional walk-in freezers, he said.

“We have made all the necessary arrangements, once it comes, vaccines will be sent to all the districts,” he said, adding that people with comorbidities will be vaccinated on priority in the second stage, after the frontline workers.

As of Sunday, Karnataka has reported 9,27,559 COVID-19 positive cases and 12,140 deaths while the active cases stood at 9,649.