Hopes rise after Covid vaccine 1st week - Bengal had vaccinated 53,988 health-care workers

Of the 83,709 people who were vaccinated in Bengal since January 16, as many as 30,517 got their shots on Friday

File picture of a Covid vaccine jab being administered at the NRS Medical College and Hospital

Subhajoy Roy   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |    25.01.21 : Around 84,000 health workers were administered the Covid vaccination in Bengal in the first week of the nationwide exercise, prompting local officials to conclude that the state has done “fairly well” and raising hopes that the initial reluctance among potential recipients will subside soon.

The country-wide count is 16 lakh. Of the 83,709 people who were vaccinated in Bengal since January 16, as many as 30,517 got their shots on Friday.

Health department officials hope the reluctance among many people to get Covid shots would go away gradually as there are hardly any reports of adverse events. “A week has passed since the Covid vaccination was launched across the country and there are hardly any reports of serious adverse events. More health workers will now be keen to get the shots,” an official said.

From Monday, the jabs will be administered at 400 sites across the state, 50 more than Friday’s count.

“We have done fairly well in the first week despite reluctance among a section of health-care workers to take the vaccine. Some states have done better than us. We hope to do better from this week,” said a health department official.

Metro has reported that the health department is asking senior doctors and hospital administrators to motivate their colleagues to take Covid shots.

The number of vaccination sites has been increased across the state to ensure that more health workers are inoculated. In Calcutta, the count has been doubled. “Covid vaccines will be administered at 54 sites in Calcutta from Monday. On Friday, there were only 26 sites in the city,” said a state government official involved in the supervision of the Covid vaccination.

Among the new sites are two private hospitals — Belle Vue Clinic and the Institute of Neurosciences — and 11 ward health clinics of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

According to the state-wise break-down of Covid-19 vaccination posted on the website of the Press Information Bureau, Bengal had vaccinated 53,988 health-care workers till 7am on January 22. The state stood sixth in vaccinating health-care workers.

Karnataka had inoculated 1,38,807 health workers, Andhra Pradesh 1,15,365, Odisha 1,13, 623, Telangana 97,087 and Bihar 63,541 health-care workers till 7am on January 22.

The total inoculation done till then was 10,43,534.

Bengal has the fifth highest number of active Covid-19 cases in the country now, according to a tweet by the ministry of health and family welfare on Sunday. The tweet at 12.09pm mentioned that India’s active cases stood at 1,84,408.

It also mentioned that Kerala accounted for 39.19 per cent of the cases, Maharashtra 24.45 per cent, Karnataka 3.99 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 3.97 per cent and West Bengal 3.47 per cent of the active cases.

“5 states account for 75% total active cases of the country,” the tweet said.

In terms of absolute numbers, the number of active cases has come down significantly. The bulletin issued by the state health department on Sunday mentioned that 389 Covid-19 cases were reported in the state over the past 24 hours. The bulletin issued on Saturday mentioned that 410 cases were reported in the preceding 24 hours.

An official of the state health department said that if vaccination gained steam, Bengal would be at a more advantageous position. “The faster we can inoculate our people, the better off we would be,” said the official.