E-Paper
Bengal starts door-to-door survey to identify those who missed second vaccine dose
In October, the Union health ministry had written to several states, including West Bengal, which emerged laggards in administering the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, asking them to address the issue on priority.
The West Bengal government has started a house-to-house survey to identify people who haven’t taken their second Covid-19 vaccine dose in time. There are around 1.8 million such people in the state, officials said.
“We have started a house-to-house survey with the help of ASHA worker to identify people who have not taken their second dose. They will be encouraged to take their second dose as it is overdue,” said Ajoy Chakraborty, director of health services in West Bengal.
Till date at least 1.8 million people in West Bengal haven’t taken their second dose on time. The maximum number of such cases has been reported from Alipurduar district in north Bengal where around 218,000 cases are overdue followed by 140,000 cases in Hooghly district. In Kolkata around 108,400 people have not taken their second doses.
The gap between the first and second dose of the vaccine is 12 weeks in the case of Covishield and four weeks in the case of Covaxin. Almost 90% of doses administered so far in the country are of the first.
Two doses of a vaccine are required for adequate protection against severe infection and hospitalisation, especially those caused by mutant strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“Among the people who haven’t taken their second dose a large portion comprise migrant labourers and central force personnel. Several central force personnel who had come to the state during assembly elections took their first dose here. Later they went back. Similarly migrant labourers who had returned to West Bengal took the first dose here and went back to the states where they work,” said Chakraborty.
In October, the Union health ministry had written to several states, including West Bengal, which emerged laggards in administering the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, asking them to address the issue on priority.
“We have stepped up the drive to administer the second dose. On November 16, while the number of first doses given was 241,568, the number of second doses given was 290,145. In October the number of overdue cases was more than 3.2 million. It has come down now,” said the official.
At vaccination centres a separate queue is being maintained for those who are coming for their second dose to make it more hassle-free.
Every day West Bengal is registering more than 800 new cases. The daily count of Covid-19 cases has shot up after the festive season.
“Covid-19 safety protocols were rampantly flouted during the festive season. Many were not wearing masks, leaving aside social distancing and sanitizing,” said Sukumar Mukherjee, member of the expert committee that was set up in 2020 to advise chief minister Mamata Banerjee on pandemic-related matters.
