BENGALURU: About 18% of the eligible population in Bengaluru city is completely vaccinated against Covid-19, while 62% has received at least one dose of the vaccine, Gaurav Gupta, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) chief commissioner, said.
“If we vaccinate 90,000 people in a day it will be considered as 1% of the eligible population,” Gupta said. “So, to complete second doses for 50% of the eligible population, we will need anywhere between 45 to 60 days,” he added Gupta said the capital city needs “anywhere between one lakh to 1.5 lakh doses” every day. “We have spoken to the government in this regard [to increase supply],” he said. He said that the demand for vaccines is only going to increase, both from those seeking the first dose and the second dose.
“The number of people vaccinated in a day does not merely depend on how many vaccines are coming in but also on how many have completed the number of days they are supposed to wait before taking the second dose,” he said.
BBMP officials said there are also cases of individuals who have taken their first shot but are unable to take the second shot as they had contracted Covid-19. As per protocol they must wait for a minimum number of days — at least three months — before they take the second dose. “Second dose seekers need to have completed the minimum number of days suggested to avail it. But we will also have to vaccinate those seeking the first dose. These are the two reasons why it will take 45 or more days to vaccinate at least 50% of the population completely,” Gupta said.
Randeep Dev, special commissioner health, BBMP said, “The city has the capacity to administer anywhere between 80,000 to one lakh doses a day. When the drive was opened for people over 18 years of age, BBMP alone was administering 1.2 lakh doses a day.”
He added: “As of now we mostly get Covishield, sometimes it’s 100% Covishield vaccine. Covaxin is now being given only to those seeking the second dose.”
