Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday placed the responsibility of Covid-19 vaccine shortage on the Centre while asserting that despite constraints, Bengal had been meeting its vaccination targets.

On Wednesday, Bengal administered over 4.47 lakh doses from 2,112 vaccination centres, 1,809 of them run by the government, taking the total number of jabs to around 4.16 crore or around 41.6 per cent of the population. Of them, over 1.17 crore are second doses, taking the total of fully vaccinated people to around 11.7 per cent of its population.

The corresponding figures for India stand at 37.8 per cent of the population with at least one dose and 11.3 per cent with both doses.

“We don’t make promises that we turn our backs on. We make promises that we are serious about, promises we can deliver on. It is important to maintain that transparency, for credibility,” said Mamata at Panagarh, in an apparent jibe at the BJP-led Centre.

“The Centre has been procuring vaccines, and the state government is responsible for them being administered. There has been hardly any wastage in Bengal (about 7 per cent)…. We crossed the 4 crore target yesterday, but need around 14 crore doses,” she added.

Calcutta leads with over 58 lakh doses, followed by North 24-Parganas with nearly 43 lakh doses and Hooghly with more than 25 lakh doses so far.

Bengal on Wednesday recorded 679 new Covid cases, 681 recoveries and 12 deaths. The total of active cases fell by 14 to reach 8,801 now.

Calcutta logged 106 new infections and one death.

North 24-Parganas reported 116 new cases. These were the only two districts with a three-digit figure of new infections in a day. Eight districts reported a single-digit figure.

Fifteen Bengal districts reported zero deaths on Wednesday. North 24-Parganas reported three.

Regarding vaccination, nearly 98 lakh doses have been administered to the 60-plus age group, while around 1.39 crore doses have been administered to those between 45 and 60 years and close to 1.8 crore doses to the 18-44 age group.

Adverse events following immunisation were reported in 0.009 per cent of the cases in Bengal.

“We have the third wave in mind. We are now considering whether children need to be vaccinated. If necessary, the government will initiate a mass immunisation programme (for children), similar to the drive against polio,” she said.

Mamata once again assured people of Bengal that her government was in the process of distributing all vaccine doses made available to the state, urging against rush that might lead to chaos.

“Whatever is available (vaccine doses) with us, we are distributing it promptly. I request everyone not to rush…. The government will let everyone know when and where vaccines will be given, and there is no reason to overcrowd vaccination centres,” she said, apparently referring to commotion at a vaccination centre in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday, which left several injured. “Please do not heed rumours and contribute to baseless panic.”

Currently, the state’s Covid-19 recovery rate is 98.24 per cent, its highest in this pandemic, still fairly ahead of the national rate of 97.45. The state's daily positive confirmation rate, which was nearly 33 per cent at the peak of the second wave, was 1.78 per cent on Wednesday.

The state’s mortality rate is 1.19, while that of the nation is 1.34 per cent.

The state currently has over 15.49 lakh Covid-19 cases, since the first was reported in March last year. The total includes more than 15.22 lakh recoveries and 18,459 deaths.