BANGLADESH

Vaccination campaign for students aged 12-17 kiks off

The vaccination campaign for students aged between 12 and 17 began today at eight centers in Dhaka city.

The inoculation drive was formally launched on Monday at the vaccination centre in the Ideal School and College at Dhaka’s Motijheel. Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni and Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the campaign, which will be expanded to 22 districts outside Dhaka.

Vaccination campaign for students aged 12-17 kiks off

Students will receive their jabs at the 25 booths in the eight centres in Dhaka, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).SSC and HSC candidates will receive the Covid-19 vaccine on a priority basis so that the vaccination process could be completed before the start of the examination schedule on November 14, Dipu Moni said during the inauguration. 

“We will try to vaccinate them before the exam begins. Students of other classes will also be vaccinated as well,” she said.

Vaccination campaign for students aged 12-17 kiks off

Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Malek said children who do not go to school, dropouts and those under 25 will also be vaccinated.

“We have enough Pfizer vaccines,” he said, adding, that 30 million vaccines will be required to inoculate all the children across the country.

 “As part of the nationwide drive, students aged between 12 and 17 will be inoculated from eight schools in Dhaka city from today,” Md Shamsul Haque, line director of Director General of Directorate General of Health Service(DGHS) and member secretary of Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Committee told this morning.

The eight schools are Ideal School and College in Motijheel, Hurdco International School at Bashundhara, Southpoint School and College at Malibagh, Chittagong Grammar School at Banani, Dhaka Commerce College in Mirpur, Kakoli High School and College in Dhanmo

As many as 25 booths have been set up in each centre, where students of other schools in the vicinity can come to get vaccinated as well, Haque said.

DGHS Director General Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said “Initially, the countrywide vaccination campaign for students aged between 12 and 17 began at eight centers in Dhaka city and it (campaign) will be conducted across the country in phases.”

The students would be given Pfizer vaccine, he said adding,” Air condition system is needed for vaccination of Pfizer jabs…so, we will set up vaccination centers each district with air condition facility.”

On October 27, the United States (US) has donated 3.5 million more doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh to support the country’s new drive to inoculate child aged between 12 and 17. A total of 35 lakh doses of Pfizer jab will arrive this month in Bangladesh.

The health minister said the country has a target to vaccinate 50 percent people by December this year as the government intensified its efforts to collect required quantity of COVID-19 jabs.

On October 14, as many as 120 students aged between 12 and 17 were inoculated as a trial run of COVID-19 vaccination at Colonel Malek Medical College Hospital in Manikganj, the DGHS sources said. All 120 children were given Pfizer jabs, it added.

Children will be allowed to complete their registration using birth registration certificate, it added.

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