COVID-19: Karnataka to resume vaccination of 18-44 age group from Saturday
Bengaluru, May 21: The Karnataka government will resume the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people in the 18-44 years age group from Saturday.
The frontline warriors will be the first to receive the jabs followed by other eligible groups in the list, the state government said in an order on Thursday.
The decision came eight days after the government ordered the suspension of the vaccination drive for this group in the absence of adequate supply of vaccines.
"Vaccination for 18-44 years age group is being resumed from May 22 and state procured vaccines will be utilised to vaccinate the eligible beneficiaries," the order stated.
The state has identified corona frontline warriors who will be receiving the vaccines initially, it said.
According to the order, deputy commissioners and the chief commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be in charge of the vaccination of this group in Bengaluru.
Nodal officers for each category will be nominated by the deputy commissioners in districts and chief commissioner of BBMP to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine Covishield.
They will also issue eligibility certificates of the category under which the beneficiaries will be vaccinated, the order stated.
According to the order, the mode of implementation will be workplace vaccination.
For those willing to get vaccinated should produce eligibility certificates for registration on Co-WIN portal.
The certificate can be any valid identity card approved by the Government of India, the order said.
The number of vaccination sites and vaccinations per day will be decided by the district authorities based on the availability of vaccines, it said.
The state government also clarified that other priority groups will be vaccinated as per the list.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had started the vaccination drive for people from 18 years to 45 years on May 1 symbolically, but suspended the drive on May 12.
Health Minister K Sudhakar said the state has so far received 1,22,20,510 vaccines and vaccinated 1,13,61,234 people.
Karnataka has placed an order for two crore Covishield and one crore Covaxin vaccines. It has also decided to float a global tender for two crore vaccines.
The southern state has set a target to vaccinate the eligible population by the year-end.
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Mamata asks TMC nominees not to leave counting centres as EC data shows BJP leading
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged TMC candidates and agents to remain vigilant and not to leave counting centres, alleging that there was a "game plan" by the BJP and the Election Commission to show the saffron party taking a lead in the early trends of counting.
In a video message issued during the counting of votes, the TMC supremo appealed to party workers to stay put and not to lose morale.
"I appeal to everyone that neither TMC candidates nor counting agents should abandon counting centres," she said.
As trends on the Election Commission website indicated the BJP leading in 188 seats against the TMC's 94, Banerjee maintained that her party was still ahead in a significant number of constituencies.
"We are still ahead in 170 seats, but I request everyone not to lose hope," she said, adding that there were "around 70 to 100 seats where we are leading, but they are not sharing the data of those seats".
"A false narrative is being spread," she alleged.
The chief minister accused the Election Commission of "not declaring results or leads" in areas where the TMC was ahead.
"This is a game plan by the EC and the BJP as it (poll panel) is not declaring results or leads in areas where we are leading," she said.
Banerjee also alleged irregularities in the counting process at some locations.
"In several places, counting has been stopped after the first two to three rounds. In Kalyani, we have caught seven machines with severe anomalies," she claimed.
She further alleged that TMC workers were being "harassed with the help of central forces" and that party offices were being "vandalised and forcefully captured".
"With the help of central forces, they are harassing and torturing AITC workers. Our offices have been vandalised," she said, also alleging that voter list revision exercises were "purposefully done to target seats where we were strong".
Seeking to reassure party workers, Banerjee said more rounds of counting were yet to take place and urged them to stay firm.
"Fourteen to eighteen rounds of counting will happen. You will surely emerge victorious. Don't be afraid; fight like tigers," she said.
Her remarks came as counting trends suggested that the BJP was leading in 188 seats and had crossed the halfway mark of 148 in the 294-member assembly, pointing to a potential shift in the state's political landscape.
Counting for 293 constituencies was underway with postal ballots, followed by EVM votes.
Officials cautioned that trends could change as more rounds are counted, and final results would be known later in the day.
জরুরি বার্তা pic.twitter.com/Uc82oihwEL
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 4, 2026
