Vaccination resumption sees huge turnout

Shaking off the vaccine hesitancy, huge crowds thronged the vaccination centres across Bangladesh Tuesday as the mass inoculation resumed after around two months.

The health directorate said it wants to immunise as many citizens as possible immediately as the foreign minister said the country will receive more than 75 lakh shots soon from multiple sources.

"More than 30 lakh doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine are being sent to Bangladesh under the Covax [a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines]. The shipment is ready, as confirmed by our mission in Geneva," said foreign minister Momen on his verified Facebook page Monday night.

Besides, 29 lakh doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine are being sent by Japan under the Covax initiative.

The minister also said China will give Bangladesh another 10 lakh doses of the Sinopharm vaccine on 15 July (in addition to the commercial purchase agreement).

The post further added 10 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines from the EU and a further 620,000 doses under the Covax facility will arrive in Bangladesh in August.

'Have overcome vaccine supply issues'   

Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general to the health directorate, told a programme Tuesday that the government has overcome the issues over obtaining vaccines, so supply crunch would not be a problem anymore.

"We have begun purchasing vaccines from a range of sources," she added. "Already, 45 lakh doses of vaccines have arrived in the country. More vaccines are expected to arrive this week and in the coming weeks."

"We want to vaccinate as many people as possible soon," she added.

Dr Flora said vaccination is a crucial tool for preventing infections that are spiking at an alarming rate.

People who had the first dosage of the AstraZeneca vaccine but did not receive the second, according to Dr Flora, will be vaccinated as soon as more AstraZeneca shots come, which is expected this month.

City corporations roll out Moderna, Sinopharm shots elsewhere

The countrywide vaccination resumption on Tuesday included rolling out Moderna shots in 12 city corporations.

In Dhaka city, Moderna shots were administered at 41 centres as Pfizer shots were administered at seven centres. In districts and upazila immunisation centres, Sinopharm shots were rolled out.

The Business Standard district correspondents said people started to line up at the inoculation centres from the morning. After only the vaccine registration, many turned up without getting the vaccination message to their phone.  

The citizens said the virus rampage across the country has instilled the infection fear in their mind.

With the high vaccination turnout, most of the centres struggled to maintain the virus safety as people also alleged about vaccination mismanagements.

Foreign-bound students asked to register for vaccine     

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Bangladeshi foreign-bound students to apply for the vaccine with the ministry.

Students who have been studying at overseas educational institutions but are currently residing in Bangladesh due to the pandemic can also apply, said the ministry in a circular Tuesday.

The students will have to scan the required documents and email those to vaccine.coronacell@mofa.gov.bd.