Bengal among top 5 states after vaccinating more than 10 lakh healthcare workers

Kolkata: Bengal crossed the 10-lakh vaccination mark on Thursday with another 1,17,722 people taking the Covid-19 shot on the last day of the first dose for healthcare workers. Bengal was among the five states that recorded the highest vaccination figures on Thursday. The other four states were Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

“We crossed the 1-lakh mark on Thursday again for the second day in a row. About 10.1 lakh recipients have been vaccinated in the state over the last 34 days,” said state director health services Ajay Chakraborty. The high turnout over the past two days was reportedly due to the health workers, who had not taken the jab initially, rushed to get vaccinated in the last moment. “On Thursday, the turnout increased by about 40%,” said a source at RG Kar Medical College.

“I was unable to decide whether to take the vaccine or not. But I saw my colleagues, some of whom have even taken the second shot, doing perfectly fine. So I did not want to miss the out on the opportunity,” said a nurse at Medical College and Hospital. Health department sources said 70% to 80% of healthcare workers attached to medical colleges in the city got vaccinated. Above 80% healthcare workers in Bengal have been covered.

“Of the 1,460 health workers at our institute, 250 had contraindications, like pregnancy, breastfeeding and allergy, because of which they could not be inoculated,” said a source at ID Hospital.

Private hospitals have performed even better, with the percentage ranging between 85% and 95%.