Kolkata: State Health department will soon start universal vaccination among the age group bracket 18-45 in all the government-run Covid vaccination centers (CVC) at free-of-costs after it receives an adequate stock from the Centre. The department sets a target of vaccinating around 5 lakh people on daily basis. Anybody above the age of 18 who will approach a center will get a jab at free.
Director of Health Services, Dr Ajay Chakraborty said that as per the stock currently available with the state government they can vaccinate around 3 lakh people per day. But the department is keen on vaccinating at least 5 lakh people soon.
It would be done very soon after stock of doses is further increased. If more than 5 lakh people can be vaccinated per day, it would help to protect people ahead of a potential third wave. Till now, the state government was mostly conducting vaccination among the target groups.
The state has so far vaccinated 1,90,10,700 people out of which around 67,350 people were vaccinated in the past 24 hours. No adverse effects following immunization (AEFI) were reported on Friday. The Bengal government has already conducted vaccinations on 21,42,859 people so far in the state which include those belonging in the age group 18-45 years and also those who have been identified as super-spreaders by the state government.
Meanwhile, single day Covid infection in Bengal dropped to 2,184 on Sunday from what remained at 2,486 on Saturday. The total number of infected cases has therefore gone up to 14,81,707 Covid cases till Sunday. Around 2,128 Covid patients have been released from various hospitals in the past 24 hours taking the total number of patients being released from hospitals to 14,41,343 so far till Sunday.
Number of fatalities dropped at 53 on Sunday from 55 on Saturday. The total tally of fatalities in the state reached 17,348. The number of active cases remained at 23,016 on Sunday. Covid recovery rate stood at 97.28 per cent. The percentage of positive cases out of the sample tested remained at 4.12 on Sunday. The percentage of occupancy of Covid beds in the State stood at 11.13. Bengal has so far conducted 1,36,84,862 Covid sample tests so far with around 52,997 samples being tested in the past 24 hours.
Kolkata has registered 7 Covid deaths on Sunday while North 24-Parganas has seen 9 Covid deaths. South 24-Parganas has reported 7 deaths, Howrah 3, Hooghly 7, East Midnapore 1, West Midnapore 4, Bankura 3, Nadia 7, Murshidabad 1, Jalpaiguri 1 and Darjeeling 3. Kolkata in the past 24 hours has registered 185 fresh cases and North 24-Parganas 332.
The total death toll in Kolkata has so far reached 4,839 whereas North 24-Parganas has lost 4,384 people so far.