News Desk :
Bangladesh migrant workers travelling abroad can register for the COVID-19 vaccine at over 50 centres of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training or BMET on Friday.
The age-based priority list will be readjusted for the expatriate workers, the government said on Thursday after they suffered throughout the day to get the jab, reports bdnews24.com.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque had said the inoculation drive with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the
workers going to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would begin at seven centres in Dhaka on Thursday.
But on the day, the vaccination process was marred by the lack of clear directions from either the health or expatriates’ welfare ministries.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia do not quarantine those who take Pfizer vaccine shots, whereas 14-day quarantines are mandated for anyone immunised with other vaccines.
Having spent thousands of takas to get their shots during the ongoing ‘stringent’ lockdown, droves of expatriates arrived at the seven hospitals with only their visas.
However, much to their dismay, they would learn that only those who had received an SMS from the government would get vaccinated.
Adding to their woes, the government’s information technology department ‘not being ready’ meant many could not register for the vaccine online.
Others complained that they did not receive the SMS even after successfully completing the digital form.
Consequently, the vaccination centres were embroiled in chaos on Thursday.
Frustrated at missing out on their shots, a group of disgruntled migrant workers launched protests at Kurmitola General Hospital.
