Rural Kodagu residents struggle to get Covid vaccine

MADIKERI: The shortage of vaccines is troubling the residents of Kodagu. The district is being supplied with limited doses of vaccines and vaccination plans are being released each day to help residents. However, rural residents complain about not receiving enough supply of doses even as the health department is in a fix to fulfill the demand of all beneficiaries.

“Karike GP had not been supplied with vaccination for over a month. We forwarded a request letter to the DHO and on Tuesday we received a minimum of 200 vaccine doses. However, this limited number is not sufficient,” shared Balachandran Katoor, president of Karike GP. He said that of the 3,600 population in the village, only about 1,000 residents have been vaccinated with the first dose. “On Thursday, 150 residents received the second dose and 50 students the first dose,” he said.

Akin to Karike, many other interior rural places are devoid of vaccine supply and villagers are forced to travel to urban areas. In Ponnampet taluk, sources confirmed that only 947 residents out of over 7,600 population have been vaccinated so far. Meanwhile, vaccines have dried up across the district and there will be no vaccination drive on Thursday.