Children to be administered vaccine as test run Thursday

The government will conduct a test run for Covid-19 vaccination for children at the Colonel Malek Medical College Hospital in Manikganj on Thursday.

"We will inoculate 100 students aged between 12 and 17 from two government schools with Pfizer vaccine and will observe their health condition for 10 to14 days," Director General of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam made the announcement virtually here today.

"If we get positive report from the vaccinated students, we will launch a large scale programme for students in Dhaka city," he added.  

According to DGHS officials, a total of 100 children will be inoculated as part of the test run. Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque is expected to inaugurate the test run programme for children at the Colonel Malek Medical College Hospital in Manikganj.

The health ministry sources said the government has decided to vaccinate children aged between 12 and 17 years as the World Health Organization(WHO) has agreed on Pfizer jabs for this age group (12-17) of kids. 

Children will be allowed to complete their registration using birth registration certificate, it added.

Bangladesh set a target to vaccinate the country's 80 percent population by 2022 under an accelerated inoculation campaign, expecting receipt of required COVID-19 jabs within estimated timeline.

Source: BSS