Two districts of Karnataka receive over two lakh doses of Covishield

Two districts ofKarnataka on Wednesday received 2.52 lakh doses of COVID-19vaccine, Covishield, as Health Minister K Sudhakar said thestate would soon also get 20,000 doses of Bharat Biotech'sCovaxin.

According to the minister, the only differencebetween the two vaccines is Covishield has five ml of vaccinein a vial and Covaxin has 10 ml.

One vial can vaccinate 20 people.Both the vaccineswill be given in the state,he said, adding that thevaccination drive will start from January 16 in line with theCentre's guidelines.

Frontline workers will get the vaccine first.

Bengaluru and Belagavi on Wednesday received 1.05lakh and 1.47 lakh doses of Covishield from the Pune-basedSerum Institute of India respectively, health officials said.

The 1.47 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines packedin 14,700 bottles had arrived in Belagavi early today, theyadded.

District Health Officer of Belagavi Dr ShashikantMunyal said the vaccine stock of Covishield is meant fordistribution in eight districts.

''Each bottle covers 10 dose units and will beadministered twice whereas the second dose will be given after28 days.'' ''After administering the dose, each person will beobserved for three hours and will be discharged if no sideeffects are noticed,'' Munyal said.

The first consignment of about 6.48 lakh doses ofCovishield had arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday.