DMs asked to prioritise giving 2nd jab in case of vax shortage

kolkata: Chief Secretary (CS) H K Dwivedi on Tuesday held a review meeting with all the District Magistrates (DMs) through a video conference where they have been directed to prioritise the second doses if there is a shortage in supply of vaccines.

CS Dwivedi has given clear instructions to all DMs to ensure that number of daily tests should not drop. Containment zones can be set up where there is a requirement. An internal report prepared by the government says that in some districts particularly in the far off places there has been instances where people are not wearing masks properly.

Prevalance is higher in the districts like Murshidabad, Malda and also in Nandigram under East Midnapore.

Dwivedi also wanted to know the reasons as to why 10 people died of Covid on Tuesday.

A discussion had taken place on non-communicable diseases as well. CS held meeting with the officials of various departments which are involved in the fight against the non-communicable diseases.

Discussion also took place regarding the assessment report prepared by the multi sectoral committee. What are the new steps to check the communicable diseases were also discussed.

Meanwhile, the state on Tuesday received around 1.72 lakh doses of Covaxin in addition to 1.5 lakh doses which had arrived on Monday.

The Health department has already asked the district officials, Covid vaccination centers (CVC) and various civic bodies to administer vaccine on those seeking the second dose. Various CVCs have resumed administering Covaxin from Tuesday.

Bengal has cumulatively administered over 2.83 crore doses till now out of which 2,54,342 doses have been applied on Tuesday.

Around 2,83,13,533 doses have been cumulatively administered in Bengal so far. On Monday around 3,04,537 people received vaccines. In the special category vaccine group aged between 18-45, around 51,14,813 doses have been administered so far.

State health department had to scale down the vaccination drive due to a lack of adequate stock. Many Covid vaccination centers (CVCs) across the state have been witnessing agitations.

In many places the beneficiaries have been waiting from the early morning till late in the evening to get a jab but in many cases they are returning empty-handed.

Around 2,559 Common vaccination centers (CVCs) have been set up across the state till Monday. Around 2,266 AEFI cases have been reported across the state till date.

Vaccine wastage percentage in the state stands at -7 percent on Saturday. According to report, a total of 3.23 lakh doses of Covaxin were received in the past two days.