Inoculation: Low turnout at Dhaka centres on day 2
At BSMMU, where about 1,200 people can be inoculated per day, only 898 were vaccinated
Raushanara Karim and her son came from Mirpur to be vaccinated at the convention centre of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in the capital on Monday morning.
After submitting her registration form and completing the preliminary tasks, she went to the booth and received the jab. She was then asked to rest there for half-an-hour to see if she felt any side effects.
"I have been vaccinated several times since my childhood. I felt a little bit of pain every time, but today, I felt almost nothing. This is a different kind of experience," she told The Business Standard.
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Raushanara said many people made comments before she received the jab, but she ignored them.
"If I get a fever for two-to-three days, I am ready for that. That will be nothing compared to the benefits of Covid-19 immunisation," she added.
People at other vaccination centres in the capital said they felt the same about receiving the jab. The crowd at the BSMMU centre was moderate but turnout was low at some other centres, including Dhaka Medical College and the Maternal and Child Health Training Institute in Azimpur.
At the BSMMU centre, where about 1,200 people can be vaccinated per day, only 898 received the jab.
Meanwhile, only 40 people were vaccinated in two booths of the Azimpur centre till 2:30pm. Also, till 2pm, 482 were immunised at the Dhaka Medical College centre.
The Maternal and Child Health Training Institute's Sub-Assistant Medical Officer Firoz Alam said turnout was a little low as it was the second day of vaccinations.
He was hopeful that turnout will increase gradually, saying the Azimpur centre is able to vaccinate about 300 people per day.
Inoculation turnout on the first day was low as well. Only 31,160 people received the jab across the country against the single-day capacity of the health authorities to immunise 1.5 lakh.
Experts linked the poor response to inadequate campaigns on vaccine benefits, side effects and efficacy as well as a difficult registration process.
Sharmin Shila, who went to the Azimpur centre on Monday, said many people are spreading rumours about immunisation.
She said it is normal that everyone is afraid of new vaccines, but she feels relieved after receiving the jab.
Nayeem Ahmed, a 63-year-old businessman who went to the Dhaka Medical College centre, said he felt like he had started a war after getting vaccinated.
"There is no side effect. I feel normal," he said.
He added that everyone should feel free to get the jab instead of pay heed to rumours.
Technical glitches disrupt vaccinations
Many were unable to get vaccinated at different centres as the address used on the registration form and the centre name they received in the text message did not match.
Monju Ahmed, who came to the BSMMU centre, said his registration form said Khilgaon but BSMMU was mentioned in the text message, which confused him.
"Still, I came here, but they are saying that no matter what the text message says, the vaccination should be done at the centre mentioned on the registration form. I have to go back now," he added.
Maternal and Child Health Training Institute's Sub-Assistant Medical Officer Akhi Moni said three people coming to the centre had similar problems and they vaccinated one of them.
"We had to ask the two others to leave as per the instructions of senior officials," she added.
