News Desk :
Bangladesh has started vaccination with Sinopharm COVID-19 jabs gifted by China. Three students of Dhaka Medical College (DMC) were injected the first dose of Sinopharm vaccine on Tuesday on experimental basis. Later, 257 students of DMC will be given the first dose of the vaccine.
The first vaccine recipient was Ananya Salam Samata, a student of Dhaka Medical College.
Medical students at other colleges around the country will start receiving the vaccine after ten days.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the experimental vaccine administering programme at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) at 12 noon on Tuesday. The final-year students from four medical colleges based in Dhaka will be administered the Sinopharm vaccine.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Zahid Maleque said though the administering Sinopharm vaccine has started with the students of four medical colleges in Dhaka on experimental basis, all the medical students of the country will be brought under the vaccination programme in phases. The Health Minister said, “I’m very happy by inaugurating the vaccination programme. Students of Dhaka Medical College, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Suhrawardy Medical College and Mughda Medical College will be administered the first dose of Sinopharm vaccine. Later, the vaccine will be administered to all medical students of the country. Only 257 students of the DMC will be administered the vaccine.
Drug Administration in late April authorized the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Zahid Maleque has urged all not to be afraid of suspected black fungus cases in Bangladesh.
“We have been made aware of one or two cases of black fungus. There is no need to panic,” he said.
Black fungus, also known as mucormycosis, is normally a rare infection which has a mortality rate of 50%.
Bangladesh has reported cases of black fungus involving a recovered Covid-19 patient.
Prof Delwar Hossain, head of the Respiratory Medicine Department at Birdem General Hospital said: “Two patients, recovered from Covid-19 infections, have been infected by black fungus with one undergoing treatment at the hospital.”
“Another patient who might have been infected by black fungus died three days back. However, we’re still not sure whether he died of black fungus but he died of Covid-19 for sure,” Prof Delwar said.
