Reza Mahmud :
Vaccine seekers are bearing untold sufferings in queues at mass vaccination centers across the capital.
Many of them returned home without being inoculated after waiting hours in queues.
Most of them accused the local ward councilors’ men’s unwanted interferences in the vaccination programme.
Some of them blamed insufficient number of vaccines allotment in centers for pains and affliction.
Every center in mass vaccination programme was allotted about 350 jabs only everyday whereas several thousand people were seen to wait in queues there.
“Ward councilor’s men are interfering in the process of vaccination here. We have learned that the government will inoculate after checking our national ID cards. Then why the ward councilor’s seal is necessary?” Questioned one of the vaccine seekers from a queue in a Malibagh center.
The jab seeker in his 60s said also that he with some other persons waited in queue for two hours since morning outside the school being used as inoculation center, but the officials were calling men as per a list preparing by local ward councilor’s close allies.
He said, “It was said that first come, first service would be the process. Then why the councilors’ interference had been necessary here? It only have inflicted sufferings on vaccine seekers.”
Such an allegation was made by many others in different centers of the capital city. People from inoculation centers in the city’s Jatrabari, Shyampur, Ramna, Mohakhali, Banani and other areas expressed similarly bitter experiences.
Meanwhile, one of the councilors’ men was found at Malibagh school center said that they were working there for ensuring discipline only.
On the other hand, many people have failed to be inoculated every day after waiting long hours in every centers due to shortages of jabs.
Sources from the Directorate General of Health Services said, every center in mass vaccination programme was allotted about 350 jabs every day.
Besides, several thousand people waiting for long tail at every vaccination center returned home with frustration.
Apart from these, people in queues were found violating health safety rules widely.
Many of those were found wearing facemask improperly.
Jab seekers in the most of the centers breached social distancing rules widely.
Such things increase risks of spreading the fatal coronavirus among the jab seekers.
Professor Dr Abul Bashar Muhammad Khurshid Alam, DG of the DGHS and Dr. Robed Amin, Spokesperson of DGHS could not be reached to get their comments in this regards.
When contacted, Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Advisor of the World Health Organisation told The New Nation on Tuesday, “The decision of mass vaccination is timely, but poor discipline raised question about the quality of the management. As per media reports, people are unhappy and dissatisfied with the management of the drive. They are complaining of mismanagement and their disappointments the way the program is implemented.”
He said, “Though Bangladesh has the credit of successful vaccinations of EPI with its manpower and other logistics, the massive immunisation with two doses of vaccines is different. The Mass vaccination needs a good strategic planning.”
The professor said, “After mismanagement and failure of lockdown the only option left for Bangladesh is to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating at least 13 crore of people in the country as early as possible. The government have to stock sufficient number of jabs and draft a good plan for inoculation properly avoiding such problems.”
The government introduced the mass vaccination on Saturday with a target to inoculate at least 3.2 million people against the Covid-19 across the country.
The countrywide mass vaccination campaign will run till August12.
