KOLKATA: More than 43 per cent of the children among the total target group have been covered under Measles- Rubella Vaccination (MRV) programme within 9 days of the drive.
Over 1 crore children in Bengal have received a dose under MRV programme. Around 9,51,737 children received doses on Wednesday which was 85 per cent of the target group of the day. The target was to administer vaccination on 11,25,060 children on the same day.
Around 7,877 sessions were held across the state on Wednesday. Out of the total sessions held on Wednesday, around 7,394 sessions were held in schools. Wednesday was the 9th day of the vaccination drive. State has been able to administer doses over 80 per cent of the total number of beneficiaries it had targeted on each day.
Bengal has seen great success in the Measles-Rubella vaccination drive so far.
State had administered Measles-Rubella vaccination doses to around 44 lakh children in the first three days of the vaccination drive. All the districts have been asked to increase the number of vaccination centres for expediting the Measles and Rubella vaccination drive. Various civic bodies are also carrying out awareness drives among the people where the vaccination rate had been low in the previous years.
The state government started a month-long vaccination programme against measles and rubella virus in all the primary, block and the district hospitals besides all the government and private-run schools in which children from 9-months upto 15 years are getting vaccination at free- of-cost. The drive will continue till February 11. MR vaccination drive took a hit in the past two years due to the Covid pandemic.
As the Covid infection has been brought under control, the state health department emphasised carrying out a full-fledged campaign to cover the maximum number
of children under the vaccination initiative.