Bengaluru: Karnataka topped the Covid vaccination drive in India on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on Friday last by administering 26,92,000 doses till 9 pm, Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education K Sudhakar said. The state stood first in the country ahead of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which achieved over 26,62,000 doses and 24,86,000 doses respectively.
According to data released by the state health department at 8.30 pm, Karnataka had achieved 85 per cent coverage by administering 26,92,955 doses, against the target of 31,75,000. "I would like to thank all the health workers and other staff who have been involved in this historic vaccination drive," Sudhakar said.
It is a phenomenal effort by Karnataka to administer more doses than Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have several times more population, he said, adding that "It is really apt that this effort coincides with the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has led the war on Covid from the front."
Meanwhile, the state on Friday last also crossed the "milestone" of administering over 50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine till date. According to the release, the districts that topped in Karnataka during the drive are Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike- BBMP area (398,000 doses), Belagavi (239,000 doses), Dakshina Kannada (133,000 doses), Ballari (133,000 doses), Tumkuru (124,000 doses) and Mandya (115,000 doses).
Bengaluru Urban, Shivamogga, Dharwad, Ramanagara, Hassana, Davanagere, Chikamagaluru and Haveri districts achieved more than 100 per cent of the day's target. The vaccination drive, also called "Mega Vaccination Mela" was conducted in over 12,000 Covid vaccination centres across the State. With Friday's performance, total doses administered in the State in September have gone up to 87,00,000.
Karnataka administered a total of 51.2 million doses till 9 pm on September 17. "We are very confident of crossing the target of 15 million that we have set ourselves for September," the minister said, also expressing confidence about vaccinating the entire adult population in the State by the end of November.
