Vaccine crunch: Inoculation suspended at many hospitals
KOLKATA: Various Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) in the state had to stop the vaccination drive on Sunday. Immunisation remained suspended in some of the top medical colleges and hospitals in the city as stock of vaccine doses had exhausted. Many of the government-run CVCs and hospitals put up posters saying that there would be no vaccination. As a result, many people who came to these centres had to return home without being vaccinated.
The private hospitals have already stopped vaccination drives as they do not have stocks left. However, the government-run CVCs are still conducting the vaccination drives on priority basis. Stress has been given on those who are seeking the second dose. Many of CVCs across Bengal fail to meet their target of vaccination.
The state Health department had set a target of conducting 5 lakh vaccinations per day but due to acute shortage in supply of vaccine doses, daily vaccination in the state remains below 2 lakh-mark. State has been witnessing chaos in various CVCs in the past few days. Many people fail to receive a dose after standing in queues outside CVCs since the morning. People said vaccination had stopped at SSKM Hospital, NRS Medical College and Hospital, RG Kar, among other hospitals on Sunday.
Around 1 lakh doses of Covaxin arrived in the city on Sunday. It was also learnt that about 3.9 lakh doses of Covishield were expected to arrive in the city on Monday.
The state government had also asked for nearly 8 lakh doses of Covishield which may arrive in phased manner in the next couple of days. State government also urged the Centre to provide around three crore doses so that immunisation among the people in the age group of 18 to 45 years can be started. But, the Centre is yet to respond to the appeal of the state government.
According to sources in the Health department, the state is ready to procure the doses but the Centre fails to ensure supply. The state Health department till Saturday vaccinated a total of 1,14,06,319 people including health workers, frontline workers and the elderly.
About 1,34,819 people were vaccinated across Bengal on Saturday. Around 12,116 people received the first dose while 1,20,012 beneficiaries took the second dose on Saturday. No AEFI cases were reported on Saturday.
