All set for vaccination at 243 centres in Karnataka

Bengaluru: All arrangements have been made to begin vaccinating 16 lakh Covid warriors at 243 centres across Karnataka including 10 in Bengaluru, from Saturday, said Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar on Friday.

Speaking after holding a videoconference with DCs, ZP CEOs and district health officers regarding vaccination drive, Mr Sudhakar said "Modi will inaugurate the vaccination drive at the state-run Bengaluru Medical College and 9 other centres across the tech city, including private hospitals like St. Johns Medical College."

Covishield will be distributed in 237 centres and Covaxin in six centres in Bellary, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Chamarajanagar and Davangere.

There will be an emergency medical service available at the vaccination centres to attend to if anybody suffers side effects after getting the vaccine. "People are being mis-leaded by the rumours being spread on social media about side effects. Only information provided on official government handles are authentic," the minister said.

"Persons with comorbidity are next in the priority list. A total of 7,17,439 health warriors will be vaccinated in the initial phase and we are aiming to vaccinate 24,300 people on the first day itself." Dr Sudhakar said, adding that Karnataka has 8,14,500 doses of vaccine and the initial phase is expected to complete within a week.

The Checklist For Covishield

The list of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) for Covishield:

Injection site tenderness

Injection site pain

Headache fatigue

Myalgia

Malaise

Pyrexia

Chills

Arthralgia nausea

Symptomatic Medicine

Paracetamol may be used to provide symptomatic relief from post-vaccination adverse reactions. Very rare events of demyelinating disorders have been reported following vaccination with the Covishield vaccine.

The vaccine should be given with caution to individuals with thrombocytopenia.