E-Paper
Bengal mulls inoculating children to brace for Covid 3rd wave: CM Mamata
“Keeping the third wave in mind, we are now thinking whether children will be required to be vaccinated or not. If required, the government will launch an inoculation programme similar to the pulse polio drive,” Banerjee said at the foundation laying ceremony of Dhunseri Poly Films plant in Panagarh.
In view of the third wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) which is likely to affect children the most, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her government is considering whether the children would be required to be vaccinated against viral disease. She said that the state government could start a programme similar to the pulse polio drive to inoculate children against Covid-19.
“Keeping the third wave in mind, we are now thinking whether children will be required to be vaccinated or not. If required, the government will launch an inoculation programme similar to the pulse polio drive,” Banerjee said at the foundation laying ceremony of Dhunseri Poly Films plant in Panagarh.
Banerjee once again highlighted the shortage of vaccines in the state and urged the Centre to supply more doses. “We have achieved the vaccination target for Covid-19 and are at number one. We have given till yesterday (Tuesday) what we got from the Centre. We completed the vaccination of 4.1 crore people in Bengal till Tuesday. My state’s requirement is that of 14 crore more doses, looking at the possibility of a third wave where children are at risk,” the chief minister further said.
Banerjee also assured the people of the state that no one will be left behind in the vaccination drive and urged them to not rush to the inoculation centres based on rumours. “I just request the people not to rush to the vaccination centres and wait for the authorities to notify about the timings,” she said. Her comment came in the backdrop of a stampede reported at a vaccination Centre in the state’s Jalpaiguri district after scores of local residents tried entering the premises. At least 25 people have been injured in the incident.
Till now, West Bengal has administered 4,10,99,468 vaccines to eligible beneficiaries of which 2,95,43,733 have been inoculated with the first dose and the remaining 1,15,55,735 with both doses. On Tuesday, over 1.21 million beneficiaries got the jab.
A total of 1,521,342 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the state so far which include 18,447 deaths, 15,21,342 recoveries and 8,815 active cases. As many as 640 were detected Covid-19 positive on Tuesday while 13 patients succumbed to the viral disease.
(With PTI inputs)
