Priceless service of young Red Crescent volunteers

Ever since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic (and the consequent standstill which it caused our world to come to), every small step towards progress has been accompanied by the reality we face as a nation, of a dearth of necessary resources. Not only do we lack the proper facilities needed to accommodate patients affected by the virus and those who are sick with other diseases, there are also not enough human hands around to tend to each patient. On top of all that, there has also been the upsurge of unemployment to worry ourselves with. But while there have been lay-offs abound across all sectors, after a year of the beginning of the pandemic, there seems to be some semblance of return to our normal lives.

With the arrival of the first batches of Covid-19 vaccines and the beginning of the inoculation campaign nationwide on February 7 of this year, the vaccination centres of the country have operated in an organised, efficient way. While many were sceptical about the effectiveness of the vaccine at first, and were also apprehensive about its side effects, things have taken a turn for the better with more people registering for the vaccine each day.

One would expect the lack of human resources to be a notable concern during this campaign but very fortunately for us, the young volunteers of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS)—with the help of the Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS)—have so far played a huge role in ensuring that the inoculation of each recipient is completed efficiently.

These 4,200 volunteers (aged between 18 and 30 years) are working in over 1,000 vaccination centres across the country, in exchange for one meal a day, transport costs, and the satisfaction of giving back to their community. The silver lining of university classes being held online has been to avail these young people with the time to volunteer for such an urgent national cause. Once the vaccination campaign is more spread out, a total of over 14,000 such volunteers from the organisation will also be able to help out.

For the past couple of weeks, the talk of the town has been how smoothly the inoculation process is being conducted, from registration to aftercare. Clearly, the dedication of these young individuals cannot ever be measured in monetary terms, but we can all work towards building a society that is well-deserving of such voluntary services.