Over 1 crore Bangladeshis receive first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Bangladesh has administered the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines to more than 10 million people till Wednesday.

In a press release, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said so far, 44,16,131 people have received the second dose. 

Bangladesh has been running its inoculation programme with four vaccine varieties — AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Pfizer and Moderna. One needs to receive two doses of these vaccines for protection against coronavirus.

The country is providing two doses of the same vaccine to people. For example, if someone receives the first jab of AstraZeneca, s/he will get the same vaccine as the second dose.

Till date, 58,20,053 people got the first dose of AstraZeneca, 50,255 Pfizer, 31,24,134 Sinopharm and 10,15,511 Moderna.

Of them, 43,31,362 people got their second dose of AstraZeneca, 5,376 Pfizer, and 79,393 Sinopharm. Anyone is yet to get the double jab of Moderna.

Until Tuesday, 1,66,89,035 people completed their registration to receive vaccines.

Bangladesh started a mass vaccination campaign on February 7, with a minimum age for registration set at 55. Subsequently, the minimum age had been reduced to 40, 35, 30 and now 25. The government plans to reduce the age limit to 18 in phases.

On Tuesday, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said the government had a stock of 1.15 crore vaccine doses and another 1 crore doses from different sources would arrive by this month.

Bangladesh plans to bring 80 per cent of the country’s population under vaccine coverage by the first quarter of next year. The government will need 27 crore doses for inoculating 13.6 crore people. 

Covid caseload tops 1.3 million

The health authorities recorded 241 more coronavirus-related deaths and 13,817 new infections in 24 hours until Wednesday morning. 

The health authorities tested 49,514 samples at 705 laboratories across the country and found 27.91 per cent positive cases. The average positivity rate was 16.48 per cent.

Currently, the local death tally stands at 21,638 and the caseload at 13,09,910.

Among the latest victims, 125 were men and the rest women. Of them, 222 died in hospitals, one on the way to the hospital and the others at their homes.

Bangladesh confirmed its first coronavirus cses on March 8 last year and the first Covid-related death on March 18, 2020.

Minister withdraws statement 

The health authorities will launch a weeklong vaccination drive from August 7 to inoculate more than 10 million people. 

The government has urged the people to get vaccinated at the makeshift centres as it prepares to end the virus lockdown from August 11.

On Tuesday, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said unvaccinated people over 18 would be punished if they were found roaming the streets after August 10.

A day later, the minister withdrew the statement. Sufi Abdullahil Maruf, senior information officer of the ministry, informed the matter.

Dengue cases soar

At a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, DGHS Director Professor Md Nazrul Islam said the dengue situation is deteriorating in the capital city.

At least 237 new dengue patients were admitted to hospitals in 24 hours until Wednesday morning.