The nationwide three-day Covid-19 vaccination campaign ended on Thursday with 80,70,999 people receiving second and booster doses.
The National Covid-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce Member Secretary Dr Shamsul Haque on Friday told BSS that they set a target of administering 75 lakh people with second and booster doses in the three-day campaign. However, we have crossed our target as 80,70,999 people received second and booster doses."
"Initially, the vaccination campaign was a daylong programme but the authorities have extended the daylong Covid-19 vaccination campaign to a three-day drive aiming to fulfil the target of administering 75 lakh people to build a buffer against the deadly virus," the health service official added.
"As many as 81,74,967 people received Covid-19 jabs in the three-day vaccination campaign. Of them, 1,03,972 people were administered with the first dose, 3,81,234 inoculated with the second dose while 76,89,765 people received a booster dose," the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) sources said.
The government is focusing on the expansion of booster dose coverage as the people particularly in rural areas are reluctant to receive a booster dose, he said, adding it is not a good sign for us when Bangladesh recorded a significant number of coronavirus cases almost every day over the past one month.
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The three-day nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign began on July 19 and ended on July 21.
He said such campaigns will be conducted in future to motivate people for receiving vaccine, particularly booster doses, he added.
The campaign has been successful as people received second and booster doses from designated centres set up across the country without any hassle, Haque added.
"We consider the vaccination campaign as a successful one because we have been able to inoculate over 80 lakh people."
Bangladesh has made significant progress in the Covid vaccination campaign, which has acted as a shield to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We have conducted a series of special vaccination campaigns, which virtually yielded good results in expansion of vaccination coverage. Now we want to increase the booster dose coverage to prevent the upcoming surge of the deadly virus," he added.
The nationwide vaccination campaign was conducted for expanding booster dose coverage across the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the health ministry sources said.
"The people aged 18 and above received Covid-19 booster dose during the campaign," it added.
At a press briefing on the eve of the campaign, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said as part of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has brought 76.05 per cent of people under the first dose of vaccination coverage, 70.3 per cent under the second dose while 17.9 per cent people have been brought under the booster dose coverage.
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The government set up 16,181 vaccination centres across the country, the health ministry said."
Of which 623 were permanent while 15,558 were temporary.
Vaccination centres were set up at public hospitals, specialized hospitals, health complexes, city corporations, pouroshovas, upazila and union parishads.
The health ministry sources said in order to inoculate targeted people, a total of 33,246 health workers performed their duties during the campaign while some 49,869 volunteers extended their services to make the vaccination drive a success.
Dr Ayesha Akhter, a physician at the TB hospital at Shyamoli said, "People started gathering at our hospital from early hours during the three-day campaign."
"Those who have already received the first and second dose of Covid-19 vaccine should take the booster dose. Now it is the right time to increase booster dose coverage to control the spread of the virus," she added.
As of July 21, a total of 28,80,12,341 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including booster doses, were administered while the countrywide vaccination campaign was launched on February 7, last year.
"A total of 12,96,37,508 people were administered with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine till Thursday while 12,0,2,38,828 received the second dose across the country during the period," according to data issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
As many as 3,81,36,009 people received booster doses of the vaccine to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, it added.
"A total of 3,34,41,739 students aged 12-17 years were vaccinated. Of them, 1,73,50,530 students received the first dose while 1,60,91,209 were immunized with the second dose of the jabs," the DGHS sources said.
Some 3,74,011 floating people have so far been inoculated across the country, the sources added.
"Till date, Bangladesh received over 30 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines under COVAX facilities or through purchase," the DGHS continued.
"The government has decided to inoculate children aged between five and 12 years with Covid-19 vaccines after the approval of the World Health Organization (WHO)," the health ministry sources said.
There are 2.20 crore children aged between five and 12 in the country, the ministry said, adding: "Registration is mandatory for them through "Surokkha App" for receiving the vaccine."
On November 1, 2021, the vaccination campaign for students, aged between 12 and 17, began at eight centres in Dhaka city. Afterwards, the campaign has been expanded across the country.
