By Anuksha Dey
Despite being a Covid-19 hotspot in Bengaluru, the other areas are getting more vaccines than Mahadevapura (which includes Bellandur) and Bommanahalli (which includes HSR Layout). This has upset residents as the percentage of vaccines allotted to these zones are lower than the percentage allotted to the rest of Bangalore. While the government has withheld the vaccination drive for people between the ages of 18 and 45 years to devote more resources to the older age group, residents demand a more scientific way to vaccinate the people across the city.
Disparity in vaccine allocation
BBMP’s bulletin shows that while Mahadevapura contained 15% of Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru, it received only 1389 vaccines on Monday, May 10. However, Bangalore West which had 10% of Covid cases received 4914 vaccines the same day. Similarly, Bommanahalli received 4.2% vaccinations between May 4 and May 9 when the positivity rate is over 16.5%. Clearly, there is no correlation between positivity rate and vaccination rate, which has stumped the residents.
“When cases and positivity rate are both high, doesn’t it make sense to allocate more here?” asks Rajeev Gupta on social media. “Is it by strategy that they are sending fewer vaccines to Mahadevapura?” Vishnu Prasad of Kasavanahalli Development Forum (KDF) wonders if “there are more hotspots in other areas”.
R Venkatachalapathi, BBMP Joint Commissioner (Mahadevapura) did not respond to our queries on the reasoning behind the disproportionate distribution of vaccines to this zone.
Need for proper targets
The government has announced that it aims to vaccinate the whole population before the third wave. In March, it announced that it would vaccinate 8000 people every day. However, there is a need to set more specific micro goals. For example, in the case of Bellandur, the authorities have to account for its high population density and work backwards to figure out how many vaccines have to be given before Covid cases rise further in the next wave.
Lack of healthcare resources
Bellandur also suffers from a severe lack of healthcare resources. Not only does it lack vaccine supply, the medical staff on ground is overburdened. “We have more than 1 lakh people living in Bellandur but there is only one primary health centre (PHC),” says Prasad. “Let Yamalur PHC be included into the Bellandur ward or let the BBMP open a new PHC here.” He also points out these government facilities are understaffed, and urges the authorities to recruit more doctors, nurses and medical students. “The testing and vaccination drives are being carried out at the same centre PHC that is putting additional stress on the staff and increasing the chances of spreading the Covid virus.”
Need for better planning at vaccination centres
“Most private hospitals stopped their vaccination drives altogether, causing a pressure on the PHCs,” says Amaresh L Narayan who had been volunteering with BBMP to conduct vaccination drives at RWAs before they were stopped on April 20.
Narayan also points out that there is no guarantee that a vaccine will be available at the PHCs. “If the queue for vaccines is less, the PHCs take a call on whether they will take walk-in appointments that day,” he says. “If the queue is long, only pre-registered appointments are entertained. Often, the number of appointments given on the Co-Win portal is more than the number of vaccines available.”
Residents are worried that the PHCs could end up becoming super spreaders during the pandemic. “Unnecessarily asking people to come to the PHC when the vaccine itself is not available increases the risk of Covid,” reasons Prasad.
Inaccessible vaccination drives
Bellandur has a population of over 1 lakh people. Additionally, the neighbourhood has a large floating population of migrant labourers. The vaccination drive by the government is not accessible as not everyone has access to the internet or can sign up on Aarogya Setu or Co-Win.
KDF wants a door-to-door vaccination drive to ensure that every single person in Bellandur has access to vaccines. “This is unlike the other vaccination drives where the centres could easily turn into potential places of exposure,” clarifies Prasad, requesting the government to partner with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and carry out the drive through them. In neighbouring areas like HSR Layout, the RWAs have contacted the BBMP for this facility. The BBMP has asked the RWAs to give them a list of people who would like to be vaccinated. The RWAs are circulating Google Forms for enrolment. Perhaps a similar model could work in Kasavanahalli as well. While the residents praise the government’s decision to prioritise the second dose for those in the 45+ age category, they want the MLA, BBMP Commissioner and BBMP Joint Commissioner to come up with a detailed plan on vaccination drives that are smoother, safer and more inclusive. One recent example of this is the drive-in vaccination campaign by the residents of Whitefield.
UPDATE, May 18, 2021: The BBMP acceded to the residents’ demand and now Yamalur PHC is part of the Bellandur ward.
