Karnataka to vaccinate 80% of 45+ group in Bengaluru soon

Bengaluru, June 16 Even as Covid's second wave recedes, Karnataka is aiming to vaccinate 80 per cent of people in the above 45 years group this month, Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan said on Wednesday.

"We have set a target of vaccinating 80 per cent of people above 45 years of age across the city by this month-end, as 63 per cent of them have received the jab till Tuesday," Narayan, who also heads the state Covid task force, told reporters after a review meeting.

The minister has directed the state Health Department to vaccinate all adults in the 18-44 years age group on priority in the city to ensure at least one dose for every citizen by December.

According to the state health bulletin, of 5,72,335 people vaccinated with both doses across the city so far, 3,11,412 are above 45 years and 1,73,372 are in the 18-44 years age group.

The remaining are healthcare workers and frontline warriors.

"The Covid task force has decided to set up a 100-bed secondary hospital in each of the 28 Assembly constituencies and a tertiary hospital for every four segments to expand healthcare infrastructure in the city, which has 1.3 crore people, with 50 lakh floating population," said Narayan.

The department also plans to relocate some of the primary healthcare centres (PHCs) to augment the system in the city and integrate them with technology for data collection of patients and creation of e-medical records.