Bengal launches Benvax portal to ease vaccine drive

Kolkata: Along the lines of the Centre's CoWIN app, the Bengal government came up with a vaccine-related portal — Benvax — which will not only contain detailed information about the immunisation but also guide people as to how and when the second dose would be available.

The state Health department has developed the portal for simplification of the procedure and smooth running of the inoculation drive. The portal, which was inaugurated on Wednesday, will also help in the research related to vaccination. The beneficiaries who have already received the first dose will get to know about their second dose through this app. Those who will register on the portal will receive messages mentioning the date of the second dose and the venue where it would be available.

According to the Health department sources, the portal, which was supposed to be used for distributing vaccination certificates with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's photograph, will now be used as a database for Covid treatment. The new portal will also provide valuable information regarding those belonging to the super-spreader category. The super-spreader category has been prepared by the state government so that people can be vaccinated in priority groups. It will also reflect the names of those choosing between Covishield and Covaxin. The CoWIN app will, however, function normally just like before. The state Health department now issues Covid vaccination certificates to people with a photograph of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on it and also with a short message that reads 'Be Alert, Be Safe'. According to sources, the Health department issues certificates with the photograph and message of the Chief Minister against those vaccines procured by the state government directly from the manufacturers.