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Senior Bangladesh citizens to get half of first 5m vaccine shots
The government is planning to administer to the elderly half of the first 5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine that will arrive from the Seram Institute of India.
Published : 11 Jan 2021, 07:59 PM
Updated : 11 Jan 2021, 08:01 PM
The vaccination process will begin in early February after receiving the first consignment of the jabs on Jan 25, according to top health officials.
In a media briefing on Monday, the health directorate said it plans to use all 5 million vaccine doses in the first shipment on a priority basis.
The priority groups for vaccination will be determined as per the guidelines from the World Health Organization's Scientific Advisory Group of Experts or SAGE and the situation in the country, according to the DGHS.
According to the plan, the priority groups will recieve two vaccine jabs in the space of eight weeks.
A monthly distribution list has been prepared based on the availability of the vaccine shots.
In the first phase of the plan, 8.68 percent of the country's population -- 15 million people -- will be vaccinated. Five million people will receive vaccine shots during the first month of the programme.
The majority of the vaccine shots will be administered to people over the age of 77, with 2.4 shots being allocated for them under the government's plan.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque visited on Sunday, Dec 27, 2020 the DGDA lab set up for testing medicines and vaccines in Dhaka’s Mohakhali. Photo: Asif Mahmud Ove
People in this age bracket will be divided into two groups and vaccinated on a priority basis. Among them, 1.3 million are over 80 years of age, while 1.1 million are between 77 and 79.
The government has maintained from the beginning that frontline health workers will be among the first to get vaccinated.
Vaccines shots have been allocated for 452,027 government health workers in the first month.
In addition, another 600,000 health workers from all types of approved non-governmental organizations directly engaged in providing health services for COVID-19 will be vaccinated in the first phase.
As many as 210,000 freedom fighters are also on the priority list for vaccination. All of them will be vaccinated in the first month.
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