kolkata: Bengal has already completed the first dose of Covid vaccination on more than 70 per cent of the total population in the age group 12 to 14 years only in 19 days.
The state had a delayed start in the process of vaccination among the adolescents in the age bracket of 12-14 compared to other states.
Most of the states began the inoculation drive among the people between 12-14 years on March 15 while in Bengal it started on March 21. There are around 35 lakh population in the state belonging to the age group 12-14.
State has already covered 70 per cent of the total population in this age group.
The second dose will be administered 28 days after the first one. The group is being administered Covaxin.
Around 31 lakhs doses of Covaxin had arrived in the state before the drive had begun. Bengal on Tuesday received another 26 lakh doses for the second jab.
Adolescents and children are being vaccinated mostly from schools.
The health department had organised special camps for out-of-school children. Senior health officials are planning more camps for school drop-outs. According to sources, a little above 96 per cent of all eligible adult population in the state has already received the first dose while around 85 per cent have got both the jabs.
Meanwhile, single-day Covid cases have slightly gone down on Wednesday with 18 cases being reported. The figure stood at 20 on Tuesday and 13 on Monday. On Sunday the daily Covid cases tally stood at 17. Bengal had reported 28 daily cases on Saturday. The total number of recoveries has so far increased up to 19,96,133. State has so far registered 20,17,733 infected cases till Wednesday. As many as 2,48,99,891 samples have been examined so far, including 10,731 which were done on Wednesday.
The recovery rate in Bengal was registered at 98.93 per cent on Wednesday unchanged from Tuesday's figure.
The fatality rate stands at 1.05 per cent on Wednesday unchanged from Tuesday's figure. No Covid death occurred on Wednesday as well. Around 1,03,511 vaccine doses have been administered on Wednesday.