Bengal gets highest number of Covid vaccine doses since January; steps up drive

“If the supply is steady, we have the infrastructure to give around 1 million doses per day,” said an official of the health department

West Bengal received more than ten million Covid vaccine doses this month, the highest it received since the drive began in January, officials said. With this, the state has started to ramp up the vaccination drive ahead of the festive season and has achieved the target of giving 500,000 doses in a day.

A beneficiary receives a dose of Covid-19 vaccine while others stand in a queue during a vaccination drive at a cinema hall last week. (File photo)

“In August, we have received a little above 10 million vaccine doses. In September, we have been allotted around 13 million doses. The Centre usually sends more vaccines that what is allotted. So, we hope to receive around 15 million doses. Another 1.5-2 million doses may be purchased. This is the highest so far,” said a senior official of the state health department.

Till date, the state has administered 39.6 million doses out of which 11.2 million were second doses.

“Of late we have been able to achieve the daily target of administering 500,000 doses. On August 27, we administered 560,000 doses, the highest so far in the state. If the supply is steady, we have the infrastructure to give around 1 million doses per day,” said another official of the health department.

While chief minister Mamata Banerjee has, on multiple occasions, alleged that there was a short supply of vaccines from the Centre and has sent multiple letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal had alleged that there was mismanagement of vaccines in the state.

The state also managed to doses, but faced a shortfall of syringes.

“From each vial,10 doses can be retrieved. But with a little efficiency, one can also retrieve 11 doses from each Covishield vial. Wastage of up to 10% is allowed in each vial. West Bengal has not only managed to stop any wastage but in many cases, we retrieved 11 doses thereby registering around 7% negative wastage. In turn, we consumed the syringes that came along with the vials,” said a senior health department official.

The state is now planning to focus on how the vaccination process could be stepped up in the adjoining districts of Kolkata so that local trains could be resumed.

Senior officials said while the government has managed to give at least one dose to 75% of population in urban centres like Kolkata, the government plans to vaccinate at least 50% of the population in the rural areas of adjoining districts with one dose.

Local suburban trains connect Kolkata and Howrah with the villages and towns of the adjoining districts and thus form a major lifeline for the people coming to Kolkata for job every day. “The government is targeting districts such as South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and parts of Burdwan where 50% of the people need to be vaccinated with at least one dose before local trains resume,” said another official.