Data released by the state health department shows that the number of people who took precaution doses of Covid vaccines at government centres in West Bengal on Saturday was way higher than those who took the doses in private hospitals.
Public health experts and health officials said if the Centre had allowed government facilities to administer precaution doses to people between 18 and 59 years for free, the third dose coverage would have been much higher by now.
Over 50.06 lakh people had taken their precaution dose in the state till Sunday. An official in the health department said they administered precaution doses to more than 5 crore people in the state.
The data released on Saturday showed that 3,24,066 people took the precaution or booster dose at government centres during the day. In contrast, only 11,737 people took the third dose at private hospitals.
In Kolkata, 19,608 people took the precaution dose at government vaccination centres, while 4,169 people took the dose at private clinics.
In West Bengal, big hospitals are mostly located in Kolkata and a few district towns such as Durgapur and Siliguri. Small nursing homes are spread across the state but most of them are not procuring Covid vaccines in bulk because of lack of demand.
“Had the Centre allowed administration of precaution doses from government-run Covid vaccination centres earlier, the coverage of precaution doses would have been much higher now. It could also have led to a much controlled surge in Covid infections,” said Anirban Dalui, assistant professor of community medicine at the Barasat Medical College and Hospital.
The Centre had allowed the administration of precaution doses to those who are 18 or above from April 10, but those aged between 18 and 59 were required to take the shots at private centres and pay Rs 380 for a jab. Only senior citizens could take the third shot for free at government centres.
Only healthcare workers and frontline workers in the 18-59 age group were eligible to take their precaution doses at government centres for free.The situation changed after the Centre had on Wednesday announced that all adults would be offered free precaution doses at government clinics for 75 days from Friday.
A Kolkata Municipal Corporation official said many people from low socio-economic strata found it difficult to pay Rs 380 and get boosted against Covid at a private centre.
Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim had said on July 2 that the KMC’s hands were tied when it came to administering booster doses to those between 18 and 59 years. The gap between the second and the precaution dose of Covid vaccines was nine months. The Centre later reduced it to six months. Virologists and doctors have said for long that precaution doses provide better protection against severe illness from Covid.
Priya Abraham, director of the National Institute of Virology, Pune, said on Thursday that studies had shown that antibodies start declining four to six months after taking Covid vaccines. The booster or precautionary dose, she said, increases the antibody levels.
