Vaccination Campaign: 41,000 register in seven days
Around 41,000 people have got registered online in seven days till yesterday afternoon for taking Covid vaccines as the countrywide inoculation campaign is set to start on February 7.
The online registration is gradually gaining momentum. Some 30,000 people got registered as of Monday afternoon, and the number jumped by more than 10,000 within 24 hours till yesterday afternoon, say officials.
Experts, however, say the number is low, given that the government has set a target of vaccinating 60 lakh people in the first month.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said there is no alternative to vaccination for eradicating the novel coronavirus from the country.
"Diseases like polio and plague were eradicated through vaccines. A handful of people, however, are spreading misconception about the vaccination campaign," the minister said at an event marking the "World NTD (neglected tropical diseases) Day".
People are gradually overcoming their fear about Covid vaccines, he noted.
"There were no side-effects among those who took vaccines in the first two days…
"There may be mild side-effects, but we should not discourage people by any means," he said at the programme in the capital.
On January 27-28, a total of 567 people, mostly healthcare workers from five hospitals in the capital, were vaccinated.
Referring to people's representatives and government officials, the minister said, "We urge them to join the vaccination programme."
He also mentioned that the leaders of the Bangladesh Medical Association and Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad will take vaccines on February 7.
Support for online registration will be provided at the vaccination centres, Zahid said.
About virus transmission rate, he said, "According to WHO [the World Health Organization], the strength of the virus diminishes slowly after the positivity rate comes down to three percent."
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has sent 1.8 lakh vaccine shots to Gazipur and 1.56 lakh to Narayanganj.
On Monday, a DGHS official said four lakh vaccine shots had so far been allocated for Dhaka district. These are from the 20 lakh shots that Bangladesh received as a gift from the Indian government.
Except for Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur, the government sent 50 lakh vaccine jabs, purchased from Serum Institute of India, to 61 districts by Sunday for the mass inoculation campaign.
"We have sent vaccine shots to Gazipur and Narayanganj today [yesterday].
With this, we have completed vaccine delivery to all 64 districts," Dr Shamsul Haque Mridha, member-secretary of the national vaccination committee at the DGHS, told this newspaper yesterday.
Asked, Dr Md Khairuzzaman, civil surgeon of Gazipur, said, "We will receive 1.8 lakh vaccine shots, and training of the vaccination team ends today [yesterday]."