Pregnant and lactating mothers excluded from vaccination campaign: DGHS

Pregnant and lactating mothers will not be vaccinated under the upcoming nationwide mass inoculation campaign starting 7 August, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Director General Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said today.

Pregnant and lactating mothers will be vaccinated once it is confirmed which Covid-19 vaccine is more effective for them, he said while talking to the media on Wednesday. 

The health department has received the recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, the DGHS chief said, adding that they were working on it and the pregnant and lactating mothers will be vaccinated soon.

When asked about stockpiling vaccines, he said the decision would be taken in view of the situation.

"The ICT division has been asked to address the issue of those who are late in receiving SMS on their mobile phones to get vaccinated," he added. 

Bangladesh is set to revive its mass vaccination mission with a special drive to inoculate one crore people in six days. 

The programme will start on 7 August and continue till 12 August.

The drive will be followed by the vaccination of one crore people every month until the end of the year as the health authorities are more confident of getting the required supplies of vaccines from multiple sources.