Following an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths, the number of people standing in queues outside vaccination centres has gone up. The Department of Health and Family Welfare is struggling hard to manage the supply of vaccine to the centres.
There were long queues at HIMS in Hassan and other centres on Monday morning. Staff at the city primary health centre located at Beerenahalli Kere Extension had issued 100 tokens to those in the queue early. Many were asked to come on Tuesday. However, till 10.30 a.m. the vaccine stock had not reached the centre.
Many aged people were in queues at the centre at HIMS, with no clue when they would get vaccinated. There were separate queues for Covaxin and Covishield. However, with no one to guide the public, the people who got Covishield in the first dose were standing in the queue for Covaxin. “Can’t the department depute one person to guide us,” asked a senior citizen. Moreover, people hardly maintained social distance at the centres. Some approached private hospitals to get vaccinated against payment. However, the private hospitals too had no stock.
District Health Officer K.M. Sathish Kumar told the media that there was a delay in the supply as the demand for the vaccine had gone up. “The vaccination drive was hit in some centres due to the delay in supply. However, the supply will be normal by Tuesday,” he said.
New cases
As many as 10 people died of COVID-19 in Hassan on Monday, taking the tally to 536. Besides, 738 new cases were reported in the district. With this, the total number of cases rose to 36,360. Of them, 30,926 have recovered and 4,898 are under treatment. The number of people in ICUs is 70.
Curfew violations
The Revenue Department staff and the police penalised those violating the night and weekend curfew guidelines. More than 200 vehicles were seized during the last weekend curfew in the district.
Arkalgud tahsildar Renukumar slapped a fine of ₹100 on a bride getting married in a choultry without a face mask. He also ordered closure of a marriage hall in Arkalgud for allowing more than 50 people against the guideline.