Bangladesh plans to launch COVID vaccine registration app on Jan 27

The government plans to launch a mobile app through which people can register for the mass vaccination campaign against the coronavirus on Jan 27.

On that day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the vaccination programme, with a nurse of Dhaka's Kurmitola General Hospital set to be the first person to be inoculated.

Preparations are underway to vaccinate another 400 to 500 people in five hospitals in Dhaka the following day, while the mass vaccination campaign will kick off in the first week of February. People who are interested in getting the vaccine must register online via surokkha.gov.bd, or by downloading the 'Surokkha' app on their mobile phones.

After completing the registration process, applicants can find out when and where they will be vaccinated through the app.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and top health officials spoke about the online registration process at a media briefing at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.

The COVID-19 vaccine management software developed by the programmers of the ICT Division on their own initiative has been handed over to the health directorate, according to the state minister.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the first immunisation programme on Jan 27. At the same time, we have proposed that the registration app be officially inaugurated by the prime minister. Until then, surokkha.gov.bd cannot be used for registration, nor is the Android app,” said Palak.

Meanwhile, Director-General of Health Services ABM Khurshid Alam said people who fail to register online will not be eligible to receive a vaccine shot.

“We will not go beyond this app because we have to store all the data together and then it has to be analysed. We will be able to use this data for a lot of things later. We will be able to use this as a role model for future vaccination campaigns. We don't know what the situation will be like later but for now, we will not allow anyone who doesn't register using the app.”

Read more: How to register for coronavirus vaccine in Bangladesh