Highest number of people to be vaccinated on Tuesday

On the occasion of the birthday of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 75 lakh people will be jabbed with the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine today under a special campaign.

Those who are over the age of 25, and are waiting for the vaccine after registration, will be inoculated today.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) completed all preparations for the vaccination campaign yesterday. People have been informed about the campaign through miking while vaccine centres have been decorated to vaccinate the highest number of people so far, on a single day, in a festive atmosphere.

In a briefing on the vaccination campaign on Monday afternoon, DGHS Director General Prof Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said, "We have decided to vaccinate 75 lakh people under the campaign on Tuesday. In total 80 lakh people will be vaccinated on the day, including 5 lakh under the regular vaccination programme. We have supplied all the required materials to each EPI centre. The supply will continue tonight and tomorrow morning."

Dr Khurshid said under the mass vaccination campaign, people will be vaccinated with the first dose while the second dose will be given on 28 October. "The campaign will start at 9am and vaccination activities will continue up until we reach our goal. Our team will stay at the centre for one hour after the last vaccination."

Each team will be able to change and expand the vaccination time locally.

He said during the special campaign, priority would be given to those who are waiting to be vaccinated after registration. Everyone aged above 25 will be vaccinated.

In the first two hours of the campaign, priority will be given to women over 40 and people from remote areas. People who have not registered will also be allowed to receive jabs if they bring their national identity cards.

Pregnant women and lactating mothers will not be vaccinated in this campaign.

According to the DGHS, the vaccination campaign will be held at 4,000 union parishads, 1,054 municipalities, and 443 city corporation wards. As part of the programme, three booths have been set up in each union, one booth in the municipality and three booths in the city corporation wards.

Some 32,706 health workers and 48,459 volunteers would take part in the campaign.

The DG said seating arrangements will be made for the elderly people at the centres. Everyone must wait half an hour after the vaccination. Arrangements have been made for women to be vaccinated in a confined space. If anyone faces side effects after vaccination, he/she will be taken to the upazila health centre.

He said we have set a target of vaccinating 1,500 people at each union, 500 or more at each ward at the municipal level and 1,000 people or more at each ward of any city corporation. The local administration will be able to reduce or increase the target in special cases.

In addition to the campaign, vaccination will continue at the regular vaccination centres. Those centres will be decorated on the occasion of the prime minister's birthday.

Dr Md Ashraful Haque, Covid vaccine centre focal person at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery told the Business Standard, "Our centre is out of the campaign. We vaccinate 3,000 people every day, and the same amount will be vaccinated on Tuesday. The vaccination centre will be decorated on the occasion of the prime minister's birthday and flowers will be given to the vaccine recipients."

Earlier, the first dose of the Covid vaccine was administered on 7-12 August by conducting the first vaccination campaign. At that time, 50.73 lakh people were vaccinated in six days. They were given the second dose during a campaign in September.

Over 1,06,000 to be jabbed in two city corporations of Dhaka

In the special vaccination campaign, mass vaccination will be conducted at 75 centres in 75 wards of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). 350 people will be vaccinated in each centre. In all, the DSCC has set a target of vaccinating 52,500 persons.

Meanwhile, 1000 people will be vaccinated in each of the 54 wards of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). Vaccination will be conducted for two days under the campaign in DNCC.

In total, 1,06,000 people will get the first dose of vaccine in the two city corporations during the campaign.

3 lakh people will be vaccinated in Chattogram

On the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday, 3,67,000 doses of vaccine will be given in Chattogram through the campaign, said Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi, civil surgeon of Chattogram.

He told TBS, "300,000 people in 200 unions in 15 upazilas of the district will be vaccinated with the first dose, inoculating 200 people in one centre of each union. In addition, a total of 67,000 people will be vaccinated in the port city, 1,500 people in each of the 41 wards of the Chattogram City Corporation."

The civil surgeon said that those who have been waiting for the vaccine after registration will be given priority in the mass vaccination campaign.