2nd consignment of Covishield vaccine slated to arrive in Bengal next week
Kolkata: The second consignment of Covishield vaccine is expected to arrive in the state next week, sources in the state Health department said on Sunday.
The number of Covishield vials that will be coming to the state has not been confirmed by the Health department yet. A senior health department official said that the Union Health Ministry has communicated saying that the second batch of the vaccine would arrive in the city from Pune very soon but the date of arrival and the number of vaccine doses are yet to be confirmed.
The first consignment of around 6.89 lakh doses of Covid vaccine arrived in Kolkata on January 12 and the drive was already launched across Bengal on Saturday. Around 15,700 health workers were inoculated on the first day. The Health department is introducing 20 more vaccine vans fitted with GPS mechanisms which would be used for transporting the vaccines from the medical store to the various vaccine centers. The number of vaccination sites would also be increased gradually. The vaccination drive was conducted in 207 venues across the state on the first day.
State Health department sources said that the number of vaccination venues was deliberately reduced to avoid any crisis of vaccine. The department wanted to ensure that those who have already received the first dose do not face any hiccup while getting the second dose. If there is any shortage of vaccines, it would put the department in jeopardy. The second dose would be administered to the health workers 28 days after receiving the first dose. The Health department chose it more prudent to formulate a policy whereby the health workers would not have to wait to receive the second shots.
The state government has already initiated a process to vaccinate the front line Covid warriors beside the health workers. A comprehensive data is underway where the names of police personnel, civic body staff, PWD employees, DM office staff and the employees of various other departments would feature. All of them would be vaccinated in the same phase after the health workers.
