The first day of administration of Covaxin, a home-grown vaccine against Covid, in the city had a mixed response no one took the jab at one site, a little over half the targeted number took the shots at a second site and the third crossed the target.
Unlike Covishield, the other Covid vaccine granted emergency approval in India, Covaxin is still undergoing phase III trial and its efficacy data is pending.
At the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, no one could be administered a Covaxin dose, a health department official said. The hospital had sent an open invitation to all its employees who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid to get a Covaxin shot.
The West Bengal health department on Wednesday rolled out Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, at three vaccination centres in the city each set to inoculate 20 frontline COVID-19 warriors during the day an official said. The three centres state-run SSKM hospital, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and Kolkata Medical College and Hospital - would be administering the vaccines to health and civic workers, after they sign a consent form. Everyone receiving Covaxin doses are required to sign an informed consent form. Today, a total of 60 beneficiaries at the three sites will be administered this vaccine. We do not want to take any chance. Slowly and slowly, we will speed up the process, the official told.
BW Businessworld
A Royal Bengal Roar
India’s fourth most populous state launches the vaccination drive by enrolling 90,000 frontline health workers at government and private hospitals
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West Bengal, perhaps most famed for its Durga Puja carnival, also makes headlines at the moment as it prepares to go to polls this year. The vaccination drive to combat the novel coronavirus thus, rolled out on 16 January at a politically piquant juncture. West Bengal is the fourteenth largest state in the country in terms of area, but the fourth most densely populated state in India. It is home to more than nine crore people, which makes stemming the spread of the virus a challenging task in the region.
A 26-year-old man who had recovered from Covid-19 three months back suffered a cerebral stroke this week and died at a hospital in Calcutta.
The youth’s family members, who did not want to disclose his identity, said he did not have any medical condition before being infected with the novel coronavirus.
There have been a number of cases in the city of people suffering a cerebral stroke or a cardiac arrest a few weeks or months after recovering from Covid. Doctors are classifying these, as well as other serious problems like infections in the brain, as some of the severe post-Covid complications.