2nd phase of mass vaccination begins

The government on Thursday started the second phase of its nationwide campaign to inoculate 80 lakh people with the second shot of the Covid-19 vaccine in a day.

Shamsul Haque, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) spokesperson, said that the campaign attracted a massive response from people across the country who thronged the vaccination centres.

He said that they were yet to count how many people were vaccinated in a day. Anyone left can get their shots on Saturday too.

Bangladesh unveiled the vaccination programme and inoculated nearly 80,000 with the first dose, marking the 75th birth anniversary of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on September 28.

So far, 4,12,68,810 people have got their first Covid shots, while 2,13,32,289 were administered the second doses till October 28, according to the health ministry. Bangladesh kicked off its mass vaccination drive on August 7.

Dhaka north and south city corporation officials said many people rushed to vaccination centres and received their jabs.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said that school children aged between 12 and 17 would get the Pfizer vaccine from November 1.

He said that the government aims to inoculate as many as 40,000 students daily in cities and villages. For this, the government has 30 lakh shots in stock, and another 35 lakh doses will arrive by November.

Earlier, the authorities conducted a trial run by inoculating over 100 students at a school in Manikganj on October 14. Officials say there are more than 10 million schoolchildren in the 12-17 age group in Bangladesh.

The government had shut educational institutions on March 17 last year after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8, later extending the closure several times.