How Bengaluru coalition plans to beat Covid

In Karnataka, Bengaluru has borne the brunt of the second wave of Covid-19, registering the highest number of daily deaths in the country with 346 deaths on May 10. The sudden surge in daily cases from 400 to 25,000 overwhelmed its health infrastructure. The city experienced an acute shortage of hospital and ICU beds, ambulances, oxygen and drugs.But, within weeks, the city rallied through private hospitals, NGOs, corporates and civil society to provide additional beds and Covid-care centres, oxygen concentrators and installations. Most importantly, it developed a software module for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to enable hospital bed allocation. This has eliminated the inaccessibility to hospital beds for needy patients.The focus has now shifted to vaccination. From a longer-term perspective of the next 2-3 months, it is crucial to unlock additional funding from corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds and philanthropic institutions to curtail the spread of the virus. In addition, CSR and corporates are currently undertaking vaccination drives for their own employees. These will be mapped to understand the overall vaccination landscape in Karnataka.Of Bengaluru’s total population of 12 million, there are about 10 million 18- plus eligible citizens for vaccination. 2.5 million have already been vaccinated with at least one dose, and another 1.5 million who have been infected can be deprioritised for vaccination. This leaves us with six million to vaccinate.If we aim to vaccinate at least 80% of these, we will need to inoculate 4.8 million people. By deploying one dose of vaccine in 80% of the population, it may not prevent reinfections, but it will prevent severe disease and, thereby, not overwhelm the medical infrastructure. It is also believed that by targeting those most at risk to viral exposure, we can rapidly stop the spread.The estimated number of those who bear an occupational hazard to being Covid-infected in the organised sector (large format retailers and mall employees, delivery executives and warehousing staff, restaurant staff, private transportation and cab drivers, warehousing and logistics personnel of ecommerce delivery companies) is 265,000.The corresponding number in the unorganised sector (MSME workers, construction workers, crematorium workers, domestic help, waste-pickers, sex workers, auto and truck drivers, kirana store owners, milk and vegetable vendors, security and support staff in residential areas, unorganised delivery staff, street vendors) is 1,455,500.By vaccinating this group of about 1.6 million, we can largely arrest the spread.Action Covid Team (ACT), along with several NGOs, will work with BBMP to address these segments over the coming weeks by setting up vaccination camps across the city. Slums, markets, construction sites and autorickshaw drivers will be provided mass vaccination camps to cover large numbers at the rate of 1,000-2,000 per camp per day. For this, the IT Industry will provide tech support for onsite registrations, along with both private and government hospital staff to administer the vaccinations. This vaccination drive has already been initiated by ACT and BBMP for locality-wise street vendors.It is expected that delivery services and cab companies will vaccinate their 150,000 employees within a short time. Bengaluru’s tech sector has already initiated onsite vaccination for its employees. Under this effort, it is expected that over two million employees will be vaccinated by end-June.The rest of Bengaluru’s residents will be required to seek vaccination at both private and government hospitals through the CoWIN app. However, high-rise apartments and gated communities may tie up with private hospitals to have in situ vaccination camps for their respective residents.The coalition will also focus on strong messaging within communities to remove concerns around vaccination by increasing awareness through campaigns, reducing hesitancy through tailored messaging to address different target groups, and by increasing access for the marginalised groups. Camps are a good way of getting people to develop collective confidence.Karnataka would like to take a lead in integrating its RT-PCR testing database with the CoWIN app. This should enable us to register people in terms of eligibility, prioritisation, location and occupation. Additionally, CoWIN-Kar will prompt people on their next dose of vaccination depending on which vaccine they have received. The app also aims to generate data on reinfection.Karnataka aims to be at zero mortality and test positivity rates of below 0.5% by end-July. RT-PCR testing and sero-surveillance with rapid antigen and antibody tests will be integral to this strategy.A one-month data of zero fatalities and less than 100 cases per day will signal that we are moving towards a Covid-free zone. This will restore its image as a resilient and agile city of the future.

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