The countrywide vaccination campaign to tackle corona virus disease began on Sunday with spontaneous participation from designated hospitals.
“The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign began this morning…. people are receiving vaccines from designated hospitals spontaneously,” Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Professor Nasima Sultana told state-run news agency.
The vaccination drive is underway at 50 hospitals in Dhaka city and 1005 hospitals outside the capital, she said, adding the immunization began at 8am and it will continue till 2.30 pm.
But some hospitals will continue the vaccination programme throughout the day, the health official said.
The inoculation would be administered among people in government hospitals at upazila level while nearly four lakh people so far got them registered to be inoculated, she added.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the countrywide campaign through video conferencing.
DGHS director general Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said the people will get the vaccine free of cost, meaning the government will bear all expenditures to vaccinate them.”
Bangladesh by now received five million doses of expected 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured by India’s Serum Institute apart from two more million jabs received as gift from the neighbouring country.
Bangladesh eventually is expected to get 68 million or 6.80 crore vaccines for 20 percent of its population or 3.40 crore people from the WHO, COVAX facility.
