kolkata: The Health department has decided to allot over 75 per cent of doses of Covid vaccine to the rural areas to make up for the recent low rate of vaccination in rural parts.
The Health officials had already laid stress on the vaccination in rural areas and the number of vaccination centres has been increased.
Meanwhile, Bengal on Monday administered around 10,89,294 doses, taking the cumulative doses to 7,88,47,080 so far till Monday. State Health department on Saturday administered around 10 lakh doses as well.
Around 5.62 crore first doses were administered while around 2.15 crore people received second doses so far. Nearly around 8-10 lakh people are being vaccinated everyday on an average basis across the state. The number of vaccination had slightly dropped during the puja days.
State Health department has already asked all the district health officials to speed up the vaccination drive in their respective areas. They have been asked to give priority in the rural areas where vaccination rate has been lower compared to urban areas.
State Health department has set a target of completing double dose vaccination among at least 7 crore population within December this year.
According to specific data till early October, around 45 per cent people in the rural areas had received the first dose whereas in the urban areas more than 90 per cent had been given the first dose of Covid vaccine.
The state government had also issued necessary instructions to all the district administrations, urging them to accelerate the pace of vaccination in the rural areas.
Vaccination drives had been hit in eight districts due to heavy rainfall in October and also during puja days. Administration of daily doses increased after Durga Puja. Around 1,651 Common vaccination centres (CVCs) were functional in the state as on Monday and cumulative AEFI cases so far in the state stands at 5,079 till Monday.