Seems like people in Karnataka aged 18-45 years will have to wait for a few more days to get themselves vaccinated against Covid, as the state is currently dealing with a vaccine shortage. Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar informed on Friday that vaccination of people above 18 years of age, which was supposed to start from May 1, may be delayed as the vaccines have not yet arrived. Also Read – Karnataka Lockdown: Real Impact of Shutdown Will be Felt From Next Week, Says COVID Panel Chief “We have made orders to Serum Institute in Pune for over one crore doses but the official news is that they are still not prepared to give it to us from tomorrow as scheduled,” the Minister told reporters.

He also asked people who have enrolled themselves on the Cowin portal for inoculation to refrain from going to vaccination centres on May 1.Dr K Sudhakar further said the government will intimate the eligible people after confirmation from Serum Institute of India about the arrival of vaccines. “We have already paid Rs 400 crore to purchase one crore doses of Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India in Pune,” he said.

According to him, the Serum Institute has the capacity to produce five to six crore doses in a month while the Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech can produce one to 1.5 crore doses. Russia’s Sputnik has given licence to Dr Reddy’s Laboratory to produce the vaccine but they have not informed the government officially when they will be able to supply it. On April 29, Karnataka recorded 35,024 fresh cases with 270 deaths in a day across the state.

News Source : India.com