Karnataka receives 3 lakh Covishield vaccine doses from Centre

Karnataka has received three lakh additional Covishield doses from the Centre, for the over 45 age group, Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday.

In a tweet, the minister said, "Karnataka received 3 lakh doses of Covishield today under the Central quota. Total Covishield doses received from the Centre is 1.05 crore. Total Covishield purchased directly by the state is 13.54 lakh."

According to Sudhakar, the state government has received 13.1 lakh Covaxin doses so far. The state government has placed an order of 3 crore vaccines comprising two crore Covishield and one crore Covaxin. In addition, the state has decided to float a global tender for two crore vaccines.

Read | No response to global tender on Covid vaccines: Maharashtra Health Minister

There is an acute shortage of vaccines in the state which forced the government to suspend the vaccination drive for 18 to 44 except the frontline workers and a select group of people. In order to meet the requirement, the government invited Bharat Biotech to set up its Covaxin manufacturing unit at Malur in Kolar. The unit under construction is likely to have four to five crore doses a month by the end of August.

The state has set a target to vaccinate all the eligible groups by the year end. Karnataka is among the states with high COVID prevalence. The state on Monday reported 25,311 new infections and 529 fatalities. There are 4.40 lakh active cases in the state.