April vaccine hope for people above 50 - vaccination for those above 50 and those younger but with comorbidities will possibly begin in end-March or early April

Timeline can only be realised if Bengal continues to receive steady flow of vaccines over the next few months and adequately increases the no. of vaccination centres

A Covid vaccine dry run in Duttabad, Salt Lake, last week : File picture

Kinsuk Basu, Subhajoy Roy   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |    08.01.21  :  The process of Covid-19 vaccination for those above 50 and those younger but with comorbidities will possibly begin in end-March or early April, health department officials said, adding a crucial rider.

The timeline can only be realised if Bengal continues to receive a steady flow of vaccines over the next few months and adequately increases the number of vaccination centres.

To expedite the process of vaccination, the state health department is planning to involve private hospitals in the process. 

A senior official of the health department said they were ready to use some private hospitals as vaccination sites if they agreed to vaccinate healthcare workers in their areas who were not associated with the units.

“We will allow private hospitals to be used as vaccination sites on some conditions. They cannot stop vaccination after vaccinating their own doctors and other healthcare workers. They must agree to vaccinate other healthcare workers not associated with their hospitals but live closeby,” the official said.  

The CEO of a private hospital in Calcutta said they were yet to receive any communication from the state government. “We have fully trained vaccinators. Once the government tells us, we can take part in the process,” he said.

There are now over 10,000 vaccination centres across Bengal. Apart from that, arrangements are being made in 342 rural hospitals, 16 district hospitals, 42 sub-divisional hospitals and 18 government-run medical colleges and hospitals.   

Health department officials said the first batch of Covid vaccines being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India is expected to arrive in Calcutta on Saturday and the vaccination is likely to start on January 12, Swami Vivekananada’s birthday.

The initial target is around six lakh healthcare workers. Senior officials overseeing the vaccine roll-out said the process of offering the first jab can be wrapped up within 10 days. Next in line are frontline workers.

With its existing infrastructure and storage facilities, Bengal can accommodate around six crore dosages.

“Between the first and the second jab, there will be a gap of 28 days for each candidate. Since the set-up will remain, we can utilise the time to inoculate those above 50 years of age or those below 50 but with underlying health conditions, provided there is a steady supply of vaccine doses,” said a senior health department official.

“That can happen around end-March and early-April. That will be only possible if we have clear data about those who have registered with the Co-Win app and there is no time lag in between.”

Senior officials said there are several medical colleges and hospitals at the tertiary level in Bengal, where over 6,000 healthcare workers have been listed for the first round of vaccination. If a vaccination centre can accommodate 100 candidates a day, around 60-70 sessions will have to be held at a particular institution.

Since that would be preposterous all medical colleges and hospitals have been asked to create more space if required by converting some of their lecture halls into vaccination centres so that more candidates can be accommodated each session.