Staff Reporter :
The government has formed a divisional-level committee to assess adverse events following immunization (AEFI) after the roll out of Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
The Divisional AEFI Causality Assessment Committee includes 14 members, said a letter sent by the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Monday.
The Director of the Government Medical College and Hospital will be the committee Chairperson at the Divisional headquarters and Divisional Director (Health) of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will act as its co-chairperson, it said.
Earlier, the DGDA formulated a guideline on the adverse effects of the Covid-19 vaccine and it was approved by the Health Ministry.
In December, the government formed a 15-member committee to assure quality of Covid-19 vaccine.
The health authorities said a nationwide vaccination programme would start from the first week of February.
“Every person who receives a vaccine shot should be kept in observation for 30 minutes and arrangements for treatment over side effects must be made at hospitals and health centres,” noted virologist Professor Nazrul Islam, also a member the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 (NTAC) told The New Nation.
He added the first 30 minutes after vaccination are crucial to counter any severe side effect.
“Most side effects of vaccines are minor, such as swelling, fever or headaches and pain. However, a small number of patients may suffer from severe side effects, such as anaphylaxis, if they have an allergic reaction. Considering the side effects, vaccines should be administered at hospitals and health centres,” said Professor Nazrul Islam.
DGHS Additional Director General Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora said medical teams will be deployed near vaccination centres to tackle any situation that might emerge following an adverse impact on any vaccine recipient.
IEDCR (Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research) adviser Mushtaq Hussain said vaccine recipients will have to stay under observation for 30 minutes at the vaccination centre to ensure they do not have any severe side effects.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said the Covid-19 vaccination programme will start in Dhaka first after the arrival of the vaccines from India.
The campaign will be spread out across the country later, he told journalists at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in the capital on Tuesday.
The vaccines to be received by Bangladesh from the Indian government as a gift will arrive in the city on Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
“We are yet to be informed about the schedule of the flight that will bring the vaccines into the country.”
The health authorities are completely prepared for the vaccination programme, Zahid Maleque said.
In the initial stage, there is a preparation to vaccinate 200,000 people per day in the district and upazila levels, he said, adding, four vaccination teams will work at district level, two in each upazila, and six teams in each hospital.
The Minister hinted that the frontline workers, not the VVIPs, will be vaccinated first on receiving the consignments of vaccine doses.
“We’re thinking about bringing those under vaccination first who need it. The frontliners like doctors, nurses, police and journalists will be vaccinated first not the VVIPs,” he added.
The Minister also informed that right now there was no plan to vaccinate the President and Prime Minister first like many countries.
He said: “If there is any adverse impact after vaccination, we have preparation to deal with the matter. As many as 28,000 people will work as volunteers in the vaccination.”
On Monday, the health minister said Serum Institute of India (SII) was expected to export its first lot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine (Covishield) to Bangladesh by January 25-26.
