Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday lambasted the Narendra Modi government over its hype around the 100 crore Covid-19 vaccination doses administered in the country, calling it yet another “jumla”.

Mamata said when only about 30 crore people or less than 23 per cent of India’s 130-odd crore population are fully vaccinated, there is no need for such celebrations.

“This (the 100 crore vaccinations) is nothing but another jumla,” she said in Siliguri. “Jumla” has come to mean unfulfilled promises.

“What is the meaning of this noise when barely 30 crore people have been fully vaccinated and over 35 crore people have not received a single dose. Vaccination process for those below 18 years of age has not even begun yet.… Unless you administer the double dose to the entire population, there is no point in such a show,” said Mamata.

Of the 102.3 crore vaccine doses administered in the country, only 30.5 crore have been second doses.

She also spoke on Covaxin. “There has been a bit of keleyngkari (scandal). He (Modi) took Covaxin. He went for a trip to the US. But they have failed to obtain (WHO) recognition for Covaxin, which is inconveniencing countless people, including students, who can’t go abroad for no fault of theirs, because they received Covaxin,” she said. “I had written to him to expedite recognition for Covaxin….”

Bengal received from the Centre barely seven crore of the 14 crore vaccine doses it needs, she said. “It is being said we are number 3 three among states in terms of vaccination. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are ahead of us because they got more doses than us.”

Bengal, with a population of around 10 crore, has so far administered over 7.2 crore doses, including 1.97 crore second doses. After a Puja lull, Bengal administered over 55 lakh doses in the past seven days.

Covid numbers

On Sunday, Bengal reported 989 new Covid-19 cases, 828 recoveries and 10 deaths. Active cases rose by 151 to 7,882.

On Sunday, Bengal reported 989 new Covid-19 infections, 828 recoveries and 10 deaths, resulting in a rise by 151 in the total of active cases, or people under treatment of the infection, to 7,882.

Bengal snapped out of a 97-day streak of constant fall in active cases on September 26. In these 29 days, including Durga Puja and preceding and succeeding weeks, there has been a net rise of 208 in the state’s active cases, from the 7,674 of September 25.

A minister said new infections being reported now were indicative of people who got infected between October 15 and 19 (Vijaya Dashami to Lakshmi Puja).

Calcutta reported 273 new infections on Sunday and North 24-Parganas 146, the only two of Bengal’s 23 districts with a three-digit figure of new cases in a day. Eight districts reported a single-digit figure. Seventeen districts reported zero deaths, Calcutta and North 24-Parganas two each.

Calcutta, North and South 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia accounted for 719 or 72.7 per cent of the new infections detected.

Bengal now has 4.73 per cent of the national total of active cases, and remains sixth among states with the highest number of such cases.

Its recovery rate, 98.33 per cent even till Wednesday, fell to 98.32 on Thursday, 98.31 on Saturday and 98.30 on Sunday. The recovery rate, nationally, remained 98.14 per cent.

Bengal’s daily positive confirmation rate, which was nearly 33 per cent at the peak of the second wave, was 2.32 per cent on Sunday.