Mass Vaccination Drive: Govt to engage pvt hospitals

The government is taking steps to engage the private healthcare sector in the mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said yesterday.

He made the comment when the mass inoculation against Covid-19 gained momentum for the fourth consecutive day yesterday.

"We are taking steps to engage the private healthcare sector in the vaccine campaign. We will seek the prime minister's permission to allow them through due process," Zahid said.

He was addressing an event titled "National Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign: Involvement of the Private Health Sector" organised by Bangladesh Private Medical College Association in a city hotel.

Talking about the ongoing vaccination, he claimed that Bangladesh is among the first six countries in the world to have started the mass vaccine inoculation.

Praising the private health sector in fighting Covid-19, the minister said this sector would also be allowed to be engaged in the vaccination soon.

Urging people to take the vaccine, the minister said, "Now the challenge is to administer the doses. Another 50 lakh shots of vaccine will reach the country by this month. Moreover, we have a contract to get 6.5 crore shots of vaccines from the Covax."

The government had a stock of 70 lakh doses of three different batches. Shots from two of the batches will expire in April while those of the other in June this year.

The minister claimed that the government has successfully arranged treatment for all Covid-19 and non-Covid patients during this pandemic.

Yesterday, 1,58,451 people, including eminent personalities and diplomats of foreign missions in Dhaka, took the vaccine jabs, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

With this, the number of vaccinate recipients rose to 3,37,769 against the target of vaccinating 35 lakh people in the first month.

Of those vaccinated yesterday, 70 showed side effects. With them, the number of vaccine recipients who showed adverse effects rose to 277. However, none of them had any severe side effects, say health officials.

Initially, the government had planned to administer 60 lakh shots in the first month, but the number was revised apparently due to a lukewarm response to the online registration.

Another 2.4 lakh  people registered to take vaccines visiting the government website www.surokkha.gov.bd till yesterday afternoon, raising the figure to 9.4 lakh.

The government had also planned to administer each vaccine recipient the second dose two months after the first one, but it later narrowed down the gap to one month.

DIPLOMATS TAKE VACCINE

Twenty-one diplomats of different foreign missions in Dhaka took the Covid-19 vaccine at Sheikh Russel Gastroliver Institute and Hospital in the capital's Mohakhali yesterday.

The missions include those of European Union Delegation, Germany, Turkey, France, India, Australia, Italy and the Vatican.