Karnataka govt approves 1 crore doses at Rs 400 crore, over 90 tankers for oxygen

• With two days to go for the opening of registrations for inoculation of those aged between 18 and 44 years, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday approved the purchase of one crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

• The state will place an order for Covishield from Serum Institute of India, Pune. The company which is producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in India, has set the price at Rs 150 per dose for the Union Government, Rs 400 for state governments and Rs 600 for private hospitals.

• The vaccine doses will be administered to citizens aged between 18 and 44 starting May 1.

• Meanwhile, the supply of oxygen is being streamlined in Karnataka and almost all 94 tankers carrying industrial gases are being put to use for emergency medical purposes, according to industry sources.

“There are 94 tankers in the state of which 45 carried liquid oxygen and the rest carried other industrial gases like nitrogen and argon. With very few exceptions, almost all the tankers have been flushed off the other gases and are being used to supply medical oxygen,” said the sources. The government is also looking at other resources and suppliers to further augment oxygen supply to the state. “While the oxygen plants have accelerated their production, there are not enough tankers to carry it,” the sources pointed out.

• One of the biggest reasons for lack of oxygen in hospitals is the “unprecedented” demand created by the huge number of Covid-19 patients and the lack of distribution and supply infrastructure.

CONCLUSION

• The spokespersons of some government and public hospitals, on condition of anonymity, said that the Covid-19 situation has “gone out of control” because of the sheer numbers and the burden on the medical resources and hospital infrastructure.

“The big hospitals are well stocked with oxygen. The problem is with the smaller hospitals, which don’t have tie-ups with oxygen manufacturers. They neither have enough cash flow to cater to the demand for oxygen in their hospitals nor do they have enough beds or storage capacity for oxygen cylinders,” the sources explained.There are seven liquid oxygen plants in Karnataka out of which four are in Ballari, two are in Bengaluru and one in Koppal.