RMG owners want workers vaccinated at factories

Readymade garment (RMG) owners want to inoculate workers at their factories to "avoid crowding" at vaccination centres and maintain health guidelines.

They have written to the government and met with authorities concerned to provide them adequate vaccine doses as soon as possible.

RMG owners said the government assured them of providing vaccines on a priority basis. They hope the government will give feedback within today or the next working day.

The government started vaccination for RMG workers on a trial basis at the factories on July 18.

Export-oriented factories were allowed to reopen factories from Aug 1 amid an ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.

"We told the authorities concerned that vaccinating our workers at the factories would be easier. If the government allows it, we will provide all kinds of support," Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told The Business Post.

According to the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and BKMEA, around 3 million workers work in Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Chattogram region.

BGMEA and BKMEA will need a minimum of six million Covid-19 vaccine doses to inoculate these workers.

Both associations claimed they have a complete database of their workers and sent them to the government to get vaccines.

RMG owners said they would provide volunteers and bear their costs. They agreed to provide support, including vaccine transportation.

BKMEA and BGMEA also agreed to assist the government in purchasing vaccine doses, if needed. They are working with the government to procure vaccines from multiple sources.

"We will provide all kinds of support to the government for ensuring vaccine for our workers," BGMEA President Faruque Hassan told The Business Post.

RMG owners argued that vaccinating workers at government-designated centres would be risky. "It will be crowded and can potentially worsen the [Covid infection] situation," said Ehsan.  

In the meantime, the BGMEA wrote a letter to the European Union, United States, and Pfizer for providing vaccines to the RMG workers.

RMG owners are individually talking about collecting Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

RMG owners said they want to vaccinate workers of one factory after the other. Once workers of a factory are fully vaccinated, they would move to the next one.

They want to vaccinate workers of all factories within the next four months. They will provide volunteers and their learning costs for vaccination.

BGMEA and BKMEA will provide vaccination booth instruments if the government asks. They agreed to purchase machines to preserve the vaccine doses and allow the government to use them for mass inoculation later.