DHAKA, Feb 28, 2022 (BSS) - The three-day nationwide mass vaccination campaign is underway with huge response from vaccine seeker people as the drive is scheduled to end today.
 
The third day of the vaccination campaign for administering the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines began at  8am this morning.

"Bangladesh has extended the one-day campaign into three-day drive to reach fully the unvaccinated people with first dose... we are receiving unprecedented response from all levels of people across the country," Director General of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam told BSS.

"Like the past two days of the campaign, all eligible people are thronging designated vaccination centres and booths to receive COVID-19 jabs...we are monitoring the nationwide mass vaccination campaign to make it successful to fight the disease," Alam added.    

Earlier, the government set a target to complete the first dose of
coronavirus vaccine on February 26, but the government decided to continue the campaign for two more days to reach remarkable progress in the first dose of
vaccination coverage, he added.

 According to the DGHS, the second day of the nationwide mass
vaccination campaign was conducted successfully as people thronged vaccination centers, makeshift and mobile booths to receive first dose of vaccines
   
"We have extended the campaign till February 28 (today)... the countrywide mass vaccination campaign, that began at 8am on Saturday, has set a new
record for administering over 1.20 crore people in a single day," Health
Minister Zahid Maleque told a function at Bangabandhu International
Conference Center (BICC) here yesterday (Sunday).

Of the total vaccination doses, 1,11,74,725 people received the first dose
of coronavirus vaccines on the first day of the campaign while 8,15,073
received the second dose and 73,855 received booster dose during the same
period, he added.

With administering the total doses of vaccine so far, the government has brought 73
percent people under vaccination coverage with first, second and booster
doses, Maleque added.

Bangladesh has set an impressive success on vaccination coverage as the
country has already inoculated 21 crore doses of vaccine, he said adding, "We
have been able to control three waves of coronavirus due to multiple
initiatives including expansion of the vaccination programme."
 
Bangladesh secured 10th position in the vaccination programme and the
ongoing mass vaccination campaign will push the country into a new feat
covering fully unvaccinated people to fight the COVID-19, the health minister
added.

"Like the first day of the campaign, all eligible people were thronging
designated vaccination centres and booths to receive COVID-19 jabs...we are
monitoring the nationwide mass vaccination campaign to make it successful to
fight the disease," the DGHS chief said.

"We have adequate quantity of vaccines and urge all eligible people to
receive vaccines to protect themselves from the deadly disease," Alam added.
   

"We hope that we will create a milestone of success in administering
coronavirus vaccines to a huge number of people during the three-day drive,"
he added.

 While visiting different vaccination centres in the capital, people were
seen queuing from early hours of today to receive the COVID-19 jabs.

There are a huge number of people, who are still out of vaccination
coverage, the DGHS chief said this campaign will make considerable
contribution to bring all under vaccination coverage.

"All eligible people will be given vaccines as soon as possible...for this
we are launching such drive to bring all eligible people under vaccination
coverage with both doses," he added.

"Since mid-February, we have geared up significantly the COVID-19
vaccination programme and we will scale up our efforts to reach the target at
the quickest possible time," Alam added.

Dr Ayesha Akhter, a physician of TB hospital at Shyamoli said, "On the
third day of the campaign, people started gathering in our hospital from the
early hours."

"A large number of people received vaccines from our hospital during the last two days of the drive and we have changed the scheduled time of vaccination as
a huge crowd thronged our hospital during the past two days of the
campaign to receive the vaccine," she added.

The DGHS chief said, "We will go door to door at grassroots level to bring
all people under the first dose of vaccination coverage. For this we have
extended the campaign till February 28 (today)," he added.

   Health workers have been directed to provide vaccination services till
today so that no one remains out of vaccination coverage, Alam added.

  He attributed the controlling of third wave of COVID-19 that hit Bangladesh
mid-January this year, to expansion of vaccination coverage, including
booster dose.

   "We have laid emphasis on vaccination coverage as it (vaccine) has reduced
both fatalities and rising of positivity rate of COVID-19... more than 80
percent deaths linked to coronavirus are unvaccinated people," Alam added.

   "During the campaign, people are allowed to receive COVID-19 vaccines
without registration or any documents from any centre," Dr Shamsul Haque,
member secretary of the National Covid-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce, said.
   
"We will complete administering the first dose of vaccination during the
three-day drive," Shamsul said, adding all respective hospitals and
vaccination centres have been directed to immunize coronavirus vaccine
without any registration.

"The main objective of mass vaccination campaign is to bring all
vulnerable groups of people under vaccination coverage... meaning a
significant progress of administering first dose of COVID-19 inoculation will
be ensured ," he added.

"A total of 30,000 vaccination booths have been set up across the country
alongside mobile inoculation centres from city corporations to union levels,"
he said, adding 1,45,000 health workers have been engaged at these
vaccination booths and inoculation centres.

Anyone will be able to get COVID-19 vaccines only by giving mobile number,
he said, adding that "The people, who will receive the first dose of
coronavirus vaccine, will be given a card... this card is given as a document
for receiving second or booster dose."

After a good progress on the  first dose of COVID-19 vaccination coverage,
Shamsul said, "We will focus on second and booster dose to scale up
vaccination programme across the country."

Three vaccination centres have been set up at each union across the
country while five mobile vaccination centres will inoculate the people at
each upazila and 20 mobile centres will extend their services at each
district, the health service official said.
 
  As many as 30 mobile vaccination centres have been set up at each zone of
two city corporations of Dhaka while 40 vaccination centres have been set up
at Narayanganj city corporations, Shamsul added.

   A total of 60 mobile vaccination centres will immunize at each zone of
Barishal, Sylhet, Cumilla and Mymensingh while 25 mobile vaccination centres
will extend their inoculation services at Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattagram and
Rangpur.
 
 A total of 20,71,44,688 doses of COVID-19 vaccines including booster dose
were administered till February 27, 2022 across the country.

  "A total of 12,07,56,056 people have so far been administered the first
dose of COVID-19 vaccine till February 27 while 8,27,54,951 received the
second dose across the country during the same period," according to the data
of Management Information System of Directorate General of Health Services
(DGHS).

  As many as 36,33,681 people have so far received the booster dose of COVID-
19 vaccine to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, it added.

  Some 37,585 floating people across the country have so far received the
first dose of vaccine.

Of the total vaccination doses, 1,11,74,725 people received the first dose
of coronavirus vaccines on the first day of the campaign while 8,15,073
received the second dose and 73,855 received booster dose during the same
period, the DGHS added.

 As of February 26, a total of 9,60,94,750 people have been registered to
receive COVID-19 vaccines in the country, the DGHS sources said.
   
"As many as 8,90,66,342 people have been registered using NID cards,
14,36,694 registered using passports and 55,91,714 registered using birth
registration certificates."