Bengaluru: Golden gen sees silver lining in vaccine

BENGALURU: Led by prominent Bengalureans, a centenarian and a cabinet minister, day one of phase II of the Covid vaccination drive took off in Karnataka on Monday with as many as 1,213 elders and those aged 45 years and above with comorbidities taking the jab in Bengaluru. Of the participants in Bengaluru, 938 were from the BBMP limits and the rest from other parts of urban district.

Though most enlisted hospitals could not give the vaccine due to glitches in the Co-Win portal, several seniors got inoculated, setting an example for their fellow citizens to shrug off vaccine hesitancy.

At Narayana Health, where the vaccination began at 11.30am, Infosys co-founder ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan was the first to receive the vaccine. Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw also took the vaccine at the same medical facility.

“I just got vaccinated at @NarayanaHealth — painless no injection related side effects. I guess it’s a booster dose for me since I had Covid 6 months ago. Feel safe & protected. I urge all eligible people to vaccinate themselves. Let’s keep our country safe,” Kiran tweeted.

Subramanian KN, 102, a retired army officer and Kammanahalli resident who took the jab at Columbia Asia, Hebbal, said he was not afraid to face minor side effects of the vaccine when he was ready to face bullets. “I took the vaccine for two reasons: To not become a liability as a patient; and to not spread the infection to others. I urge everyone to take the vaccine,” he said. With PM Modi taking the vaccine early in the day, CM BS Yediyurappa said in Shivamogga that he will take the jab soon. A CMO officer said, “The CM is likely to consult doctors before taking the jab. He is yet to schedule an appointment.”

Industries minister Jagadish Shettar became the first Karnataka minister to take the vaccine and posed for the cameras at a Hubballi hospital with the ‘I got my vaccine’ frame in the backdrop.

At 287, BBMP east zone saw highest turnout

Under the BBMP limits, the highest turnout was in the east zone, where 287 persons volunteered to take the vaccine, and the lowest was in RR Nagar with just 18 turning up. The vaccination drive for senior citizens is yet start in Dasarahalli and Mahadevapura zones.
If any hospital was charging more than Rs 250 for the vaccination, then the public must bring it to the notice of higher authorities, said Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner Manjunath J.

Conceding technical glitches marred the drive on the first day, BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said, “We were unable to log into the vaccinator module. Timings scheduled for sessions were messy, unable to mark beneficiaries as vaccinated. Names of registered beneficiaries were not reflecting on the site. If they did, we were unable to validate them with the registered phone number.”