Three-day COVID vaccination drive in all Dhaka wards begins on Tuesday

The government is launching a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in every ward under the two city corporations in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The drive, mainly targeting people from low-income families, will continue for three days, said Dr Shamsul Haque, head of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation at the Directorate General of Health Services.

Citizens who have not registered for the vaccine will also be able to get the doses in the drive through spot registration.

Local ward councillor’s recommendation can also be used for registration if a citizen does not have national ID card or birth certificate.      

The authorities will use the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the drive. The second doses will be available at the same centres after two months.  

Dhaka North City Corporation has 54 wards and Dhaka South has 75.

Dr Shamsul said they decided to conduct the campaign in areas inhabited by low-income people while a drive to inoculate the dwellers of Korail slum was ongoing from Nov 16 to 23.

Nearly 55.3 million vaccine doses have been administered so far, according to Health Minister Zahid Maleque. Around 40 percent of the eligible population have received at

least the first dose of the vaccine, while 25 percent have received two doses.

Nearly 69 million people have registered for the vaccine until Monday.