The government had identified 21,658 of the enrolled people for the first day of vaccination, but 13,408 of them received their shot, the minister said. There was no side effect or serious threats reported anywhere. Some reported swelling while injecting the vaccine, but that is usually a common occurrence, the minister added.
While private hospitals will continue with the vaccination campaign on Sunday too, government hospitals will resume it from Monday. The Minister said that he will personally visit the vaccination sites to encourage people. Kodagu district recorded the highest number of vaccinations at 84%. Uttara Kannada came second with 80% and Dakshina Kannada was the least at 34%, Sudhakar said.
Bengaluru city corporation area (BBMP) recorded 65% while 53% of enrolled people received vaccination in Bengaluru city. Mallasandra primary health centre recorded lowest at 28% vaccination.
Karnataka has received eight lakh doses of vaccine and 7.43 lakh people have been identified for the first phase of vaccination. “We have requested the Centre to provide additional 8 lakh doses of vaccines,” the minister said.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa kicked off the drive in Bengaluru, and interacted with those who received their first dose. Workers at the lowest-strata of healthcare hierarchy such as cleaners and attendants were the first to receive the vaccine dose followed by paramedics, technicians, nursing staff and doctors.
Twenty-eight year old attendant Nagarathna was the first recipient. Nine others Gangadhar (35), Dr Sushanth (35), Keerhi (28), Mala (30), Lokesh G (28), Vishnupriya (24), Varun Kumar 926), Dr Dr Sandesh Khandelwal (32), Manoj BS (23) and Jayanthi (32) also received their vaccine shots during the inaugural event.
At the government hospital in KR Puram, Dr Sudhakar interacted with the vaccine recipients after they completed 30 minutes of resting. While they said they were alright, the minister asked them to report to doctors in the event of any side effects in the coming days.