Bengaluru: Karnataka’s vaccination drive is inching closer to 100 percent, Health Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar said.

First dose coverage in the State has reached 96.26 percent, making Karnataka No. 1 State in the country, he tweeted.

As much as 73 percent of the State population has received double vaccination, which has made Karnataka No.3 State in the country in this regard, he said.

Earlier, Dr. Sudhakar said Karnataka reported five new cases of Omicron, a variant of Covid-19, taking the tally of the State to 19.

These cases were confirmed on Dec. 19. People who have tested Omicron positive are a 54-year-old woman from Dharwad, 20-year-old female student from Bhadravathi in Shivamogga, a 82-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman from the same family in Udupi and a 19-year-old girl from Mangaluru, the Minister said.

As of now, six districts of the State have detected Omicron cases. Those are Shivamogga, Dharwad, Bengaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Belagavi, he said.

On Dec. 2, first cases of Omicron were reported from Karnataka in a South Africa national and a doctor from Bengaluru.