Covid-19 vaccination campaign to be launched on Jan 27

The COVID-19 vaccination campaign will be launched at the Kurmitola General Hospital on January 27.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the COVID-19 vaccination campaign virtually, Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam told BSS tonight.

“The vaccination campaign will formally be inaugurated through administering a nurse of Kurmitola General Hospital. Later, medical professionals (doctors and nurse) of the hospital will be vaccinated on the day,” he added.

Alam said 500 to 600 medical professionals of five hospitals —

Kurmitola General Hospital, Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital, Mugda Medical College, Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) — will be given these vaccines.

They (vaccine receivers) will be observed for seven days.”

After completing seven days observations, other listed people will be vaccinated in early February, he added.

Bangladesh received its first ever COVID-19 vaccine consignment January 21 (Thursday) as India sent 20 million doses of vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca as gift.

The health ministry sources said Bangladesh is to get the initial supply of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines as part of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on November 5 and a subsequent agreement on December 13 among the Bangladesh government, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BPL) and the Serum Institute of India (SII).

The agreement ensures availability of three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses in phases from the Serum Institute, it said, adding that the first consignment of 50 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in Bangladesh on any day of this month.

Source: BSS