14 people develop AEFI on second day of Covid-19 vaccination drive in Bengal

Fourteen people developed Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) in West Bengal after receiving the Covid-19 vaccines on the second day of the vaccination drive on Monday while glitches in the Co-WIN app led to a drop in the number of people who were administered the vaccine.

Two had to be admitted in hospitals, health department officials said.

While a 34-year-old woman in Diamond Harbor, around 50 km south of Kolkata, started shivering and vomiting, a 46-year-old woman at Falakata in north Bengal developed respiratory problems and nausea. They were both admitted in hospitals.

“In all 14 people developed AEFI. Two of them had to be shifted to hospitals. They are undergoing treatment. The AEFI rate is just around 1 in 1000 which is normal for any vaccination drive,” said a top official of the state health department.

According to state health department officials at least 14,110 people received the vaccine on Monday across 207 centres in the state. On the first day of the drive on January 16, at least 15,707 were given the vaccines.

“There was some communication gap. The Co-WIN app had developed glitches and was not working smoothly. Many of the selected beneficiaries, who were supposed to receive the vaccine, didn’t turn up as they didn’t receive the SMS. The authorities had to call them individually and inform them,” said a senior official of the state health department.

The vaccines would be administered every Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.