Walk-in Covid-19 vaccination launched

The government has eased the vaccination requirements in a campaign to ensure vaccines for all, across the country, and contain novel coronavirus infections.

From now on, people who did not register for the vaccine will also be vaccinated through a visit to the vaccination centre with a NID card or birth certificate. People who registered but are yet to get an SMS will also get vaccines, Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the National Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Programme, says.

The government started a two-month-long special campaign on Saturday to bring marginal people under vaccination.

Dr Shamsul Haque said under the mega campaign, the government started administering the first dose of vaccines at EPI centres at the ward level across the country. Some 3.50 crore people will get vaccinated with their first jab in the next two months. Later, the second dose will be given through another special campaign.

The mega vaccination campaign has started at 110,646 centres in 4,611 unions of the country and people are getting their first jab.  The government plans to administer 300-400 doses of vaccines at every centre, Shamsul Haque added.

Through administering vaccines at medical colleges, the vaccination campaign had begun in the country on 8 February last year.  Later, people were vaccinated at district, upazila hospitals as well as community clinics in phases.

Dr Shamsul Haque said as every union has a community clinic, ward-level people who live far from the clinics remain out of the vaccination programme.  The people who have not yet received SMS and missed vaccines for living far away from vaccination centres will now get vaccines at EPI's sub-centres. People will get vaccines three days a week at the centres. Using the microphone of mosques, people will be informed to get vaccinated.

In the ward-level vaccination campaign, people will get the vaccine without registration, by showing a NID or birth certificate or chairman or member certificate, said Dr Shamsul Haque

If someone has none of the aforesaid certificates, they can get the vaccine only by submitting a respective mobile number, after being introduced by a vaccine recipient.

Under the mega campaign, people will get vaccinated with Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Sinovac jabs. 

In the briefing, Dr Shamsul Haque said people who registered for vaccines can also get vaccinated at the centres, by showing the registration card.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, 7.37 crore people received their first jab while 5.18 crore people were inoculated with both doses of vaccine and 43,000 people got booster doses.

Covid-19 claims 4 more lives

The country reported four more deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours till 8am on Saturday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Besides, 370 more people tested positive for the virus during the period.

The positivity rate was recorded 2.43%, while the health authorities tested 15,214 samples across the country.