kolkata/darjeeling: State Health department has set a target of completing double dose vaccination among at least 7 crore population within December this year.
In the past four days, the Health department has conducted nearly 39 lakh vaccinations despite the challenges posed by torrential rain in the past couple of days.
The state has seen a sudden rise in the number of daily vaccinations and the Health department is committed to continue the trend depending on adequate supply of doses.
State has already administered 5.35 crore doses in Bengal out of which over 1.54 crore second doses have been done so far.
As many as 3.79 lakh first doses have been administered in the state.
The Health department had put in place adequate infrastructure to accelerate the pace of vaccination drive in Bengal but the state had to depend upon the steady supply of doses from the Centre. The vaccination drive has gained significant momentum from August as the Health department had received more than 1 crore doses last month. State is also likely to cross 1 crore doses in the current month.
"State has adequate infrastructure to conduct more vaccinations daily but it totally depends on the supply of doses. We are ready to complete full vaccination of 7 crore people in Bengal in the next 3 months. We have already administered more than 5 crore doses," a senior health official said.
It may be mentioned here that Bengal has reached 4 crore to 5 crore vaccination mark in only 18 days.
State took 105 days to complete the administration of the first 1 crore doses. The vaccination drive began in the state January 16. As it advanced with the drive, the health department successfully managed to reduce the overall span of days to complete 1 crore doses.
As per the health department data, Bengal reached up to 2 crore doses from 1 crore in 54 days while 2-3 crores figure was attained in 40 days, 3-4 crores in 29 days.
Meanwhile, Bengal on Wednesday administered 5,58,820 lakh doses taking the total number of doses being administered in the state so far to 5,35,37,685.
State on Tuesday administered around 7 lakh doses. As many as 4,805 common vaccination centers (CVC) have been operational throughout the state. Around 4,376 AEFI cases have been reported in the state so far.
Meanwhile, a 3-month-old passed away at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Siliguri in the wee hours of Wednesday.
"The child had been referred to the NBMCH from Kharibari Rural Hospital on 18th September. She was suffering from fever and pneumonia and was in critical condition. On Wednesday morning she passed away," stated Dr. Sanjay Mullick, Superintendent.
A 9-year-old girl died at the Malad Medical Hospital raising the number of child deaths to 7.
A resident of Kamalpur, she was admitted on Tuesday with fever and breathing difficulties.