Beneficiaries cannot choose which vaccine they get, but those receiving Covaxin must submit consent
BENGALURU: Covaxin, the first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, will be administered at six of the 243 Covid-19 vaccination centres across the state when the nationwide drive to inoculate healthcare workers is launched on Saturday.
The government has insisted beneficiaries receiving Covaxin must submit consent. This is mandatory. However, beneficiaries will not have the right to choose between the two vaccines, officials said. This means a health worker who doesn’t provide consent for Covaxin will miss out on being vaccinated.
Covaxin will be administered at one centre each in Ballari, Chamarajanagar, Davanagere, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts. Of the total 24,300 healthcare workers to be vaccinated on Saturday, 600 will be administered Covaxin.
Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa. (file photo)
BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday indicated that he may assign ministries to seven newly inducted ministers after Union home minister Amit Shah s visit to the state, even as he remained non-committal on reallocation of portfolios, amid speculation regarding it. The plan is to do it (assigning of ministries to new ministers) after Amit Shah s visit.. if possible will do it earlier itself, Yediyurappa told reporters here in response to a question.
He did not respond to a question whether there will be a reallocation of portfolios. Amit Shah is coming tomorrow, along with him I will go to Bhadravati and we will come back (to Bengaluru) and day-after-tomorrow we will be heading to Belagavi, he added.
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BENGALURU: Vials of Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, reached Bengaluru around 12 noon on Wednesday with a total 20,000 doses, dispatched from Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad, arriving at Kempegowda International Airport.
Pankaj Kumar Pandey, commissioner, health and family welfare department, confirmed receiving the vials. The consignment consisted of three boxes: Two containing 384 vials each and the third, 232 vials – 1,000 vials in all.
Health minister K Sudhakar claimed the only difference between the two vaccines which the state has received is that Covaxin comes in 10ml vials and Covishield, produced by Serum Institute of India, in 5ml. However, the dosage 5ml per shot is the same. “Beneficiaries can t choose which vaccine to receive,” Sudhakar said.
Covid vaccines reach Bengaluru airport
BENGALURU: Close to 6.5 lakh Covid-19 vaccines as part of the first batch, landed at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Tuesday morning to much fanfare at the cargo complex. The shipment will be sent to a storage facility in the city for distribution later.
A total of 54 boxes of the Covishied vaccine by the Serum Institute of India (SII), reached the Bengaluru airport at 11.45am on a SpiceJet flight from Pune.
As a large media contingent was waiting outside the airport to cover the arrival of the consignment, the vaccine boxes were unloaded from the airline cargo boxes and loaded onto the vans to be transported to the storage facility.
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BENGALURU: Even before the Centre has started Covid-19 vaccine supply to state governments, there have been instances of multiple ‘vaccines’ being allegedly offered or administered to high-profile individuals in exchange for bitcoins, several doctors told TOI.
Requesting anonymity, the doctors said they have been getting calls from VIP patients, wanting to know whether these Covid-19 vaccines offered by certain dealers are genuine and can be taken.
The doctors said they could not ascertain the source, make, price, brand and authenticity of the vaccine doing the rounds in the black market. Consumption of any drug which is not allowed for sale in the country is illegal, a doctor said.