Permanent vaccine centres still offering first dose against Covid
One can get vaccinated after registration or through showing National Identity Card (NID), says Dr Shamsul Haque
People who are yet to be inoculated against Covid-19 can get their first shot of the vaccine at permanent centres, said Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) officials.
The new announcement comes days after authorities said they were considering halting first dose vaccinations after 26 February, when 1.20 crore people got their first jab against the coronavirus in a single day of mass vaccination.
Speaking at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary, Covid-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce of the DGHS, said over 12 crore people across the country have been vaccinated so far. Among them, 2.32 crore people got their vaccine shot in the last 13 days alone.
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At the time, the member secretary said, "Unvaccinated people can get their first dose against the virus from vaccination centres, such as upazila health complexes, district hospitals or NGO-run hospitals."
"The vaccination programme for the second and booster dose will continue as usual," he added.
Referring to last week's mass vaccination campaign, Dr Shamsul said many people in highly industrialised areas like Savar, Keraniganj, Narayanganj, and Gazipur, remain unvaccinated. This opportunity has been introduced for them.
The DGHS official said a total of 29.64 crore doses of vaccines have arrived in the country so far. From that, 12.47 crore people have been vaccinated with the first jab, 8.48 crore got their second jab, and 39 lakh people have received their booster shots.
UK donates 1m doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
The United Kingdom recently donated 1 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh. The vaccine consignment arrived in Bangladesh on 23 February 2022, said a March 2 press release of the British High Commission in Dhaka.
Prior to this, the UK donated over 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh in December 2021 through Covax facilities.
Covid positivity rate drops to 3.22%
Meanwhile, as the rate of immunisation against Covid-19 continues to increase, the positivity rate for the virus continues to fall. The country, in the last 24 hours till 8 am Wednesday, reported eight Covid-19 deaths and 732 fresh cases, with a positivity rate of 3.22%.
A total of 22,716 samples were tested across the country during the period.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bangladesh registered eight deaths and 799 cases, and the positivity rate was 3.35%.
The latest figures took the country's death toll to 29,053, and the case tally to 19,45,108.
