A total of 541 people were vaccinated on the 2nd day of the vaccination programme in the capital.
Among the vaccine recipients, most were health care professionals.
They were vaccinated from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Kurmitola General Hospital, Mugda General Hospital and Kuwait Maitree Hospital.
Dr. Kanak Kanti Barua, Vice Chancellor (VC) of BSMMU, has taken the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. “It is my social and personal responsibility at this. People will get confidence and courage, said the VC after receiving jab.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak also received his shot around 11am from the BSMMU and became the first Cabinet member to receive a Covid-19 vaccine dose in the country. Later, State Minister for Culture KM Khalid received jab from DMCH.
Covid-19 vaccine rollout has been introduced in Bangladesh as the 54th country in the world. According to the ‘Our World in Data’ website, 53 countries have started vaccination so far, Bangladesh stands 54th as per that.
About 200 were people vaccinated at BSMMU yesterday. “Hospital director Brigadier General Zulfiqar Ahmed Amin along with 200 people including teachers, doctors, resident students, officers and employees and Ansars were vaccinated on the day.
Vaccines are being given at BSMMU’s convention center. There are eight vaccination booths, a post-Covid waiting
room, two teams of physicians to monitor the vaccinated persons, four HDU (high-dependency units), an ICU unit with four beds, and two ambulances.
Officials said, a total of 26 people received vaccines on Wednesday and 541 on Thursday, and they have kept under observation by the Directorate General of health Services (DGHS) to see if anyone experiences any side effects from the vaccine.
According to the DGHS, the authorities on Thursday administered the vaccine to 120 people at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), 198 people at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), 100 people at Kurmitola General Hospital, 58 at Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital and 65 at Mugda Medical College and Hospital.
Of them, 431 were men and 110 were women. A total of 296 doctors, 32 nurses and 208 people from other professions as well as five VIPs received the vaccine.
As the dry run of the Covid-19 vaccination programme kicks off without any reports of side effects among the recipients, the government has begun distributing vaccines at the district level to launch the nationwide inoculation drive on February 7.
Meanwhile, the central office of the Extended Programme on Immunization (EPI) at Mohakhali has started sending frozen boxes to districts outside the capital city as per requirements.
DGHS Line Director (MNC & AH) Dr Md Shamsul Haque said the authorities had begun distributing the vaccines, which were stored at Beximco warehouse in Tongi, to the districts across the country from Thursday afternoon.
Prof Dr Nazmul Islam, director of Communicable Diseases Control (CDC) at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and also one of the spokespersons of the Covid-19 management and vaccination media cell of the DGHS, said, “We are taking all-out preparations for a smooth start to the campaign.”
“We don’t want to say Thursday programme is a trial run as they are yet to take the second shot of the vaccine. We will start the nationwide vaccination programme on February 7 as scheduled before administering the second shot,” Prof Nazmul added.
