Slum Dwellers’ Jabs: Campaign starts from Korail Bosti
The government is set to launch a campaign today to inoculate slum dwellers aged 18 and above against Covid-19.
Following on-spot registration, the vaccination will start at the Korail slum, which has nearly three lakh inhabitants. The campaign will later be expanded to more slums in the capital and other cities, Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced yesterday.
He said anyone wishing to take the shot must carry their national identification (NID) card or other relevant documents, including birth certificate or passport. "Our target is to vaccinate three crore people every month."
The minister was addressing a programme in the capital marking the handover of four refrigerated vans by USAID to the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
These vans can transport vaccines required to be kept under 70 degrees Celsius. Those will be used to carry Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines.
"The USAID will provide us another 14 such vans as donation," DGHS Line Director Dr Shamsul Alam, who heads the EPI programme, said at the handover ceremony.
Zahid said Pfizer vaccines were currently being administered in 23 districts. "People of another 24 districts will get them soon."
He said the government now has a stock of 96 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine, 1.06 lakh of AstraZeneca vaccine, and 73 lakh of Moderna vaccines.
The government had placed orders for around 21 crore doses of the vaccines and has so far received around 11 crore shots from different sources, including two crore doses under the COVAX arrangement. "Of those, around eight crore shots have already been administered," he said.
Urging people to take vaccines, the minister said, "We have got a new drug which is effective in treating Covid patients. But there is no alternative to vaccines. So, those who haven't got their shots should take them on an urgent basis."
About local vaccine production, Zahid said state-owned Essential Drugs Company Limited would start building necessary infrastructure to produce vaccines in Gopalganj soon.
"They [EDCL] have prepared the detailed project plan which will be placed for approval before the Ecnec soon. Once approved by the Ecnec, the company will start working," he said.
Besides, Incepta will also go into production of Sinopharm vaccines soon following negotiations with the health ministry.
As the number of Covid deaths and new cases have come down notably, many hospitals have stopped admitting new coronavirus patients, the minister said, adding, "We will keep all Covid patients in several key hospitals like Dhaka Medical College Hospital and the DNCC Covid-19 Dedicated Hospital."
Meanwhile, the DGHS reported four Covid deaths and 234 new cases for 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday. The positivity rate was 1.32 percent against 17,700 tests.