How younger students can sign up for COVID vaccine

The government will start the inoculations of students, aged between 12 and 17, with Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID shots in Dhaka on Monday.

Bangladesh plans to vaccinate 40,000 students a day during the campaign, which will gradually be expanded countrywide, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education has completed collecting information about the students from institutions. The data has been added to the vaccination database under the ICT ministry and students are now able to register online.

A student needs to visit the Surokkha web platform at surokkha.gov.bd/birth-reg-enroll to sign up for their shots.

By entering the birth certificate number, date of birth, filling up the captcha and pressing ‘Verify’, one can proceed to the next page.

The next part of the form contains space for the student’s name in English and a mobile number. Students will have to select Dhaka School Centre North or South.

An OTP code via the mobile number used for registration will complete the process. After registration, an SMS will confirm the date for the dose and the centre.

A vaccination card can be downloaded from the website.

Earlier, on Oct 14, the DSHE asked the educational institutions of Dhaka to send the information of the students by Oct 19. The same instructions were sent to the institutions outside Dhaka on Oct 17, asking them to send the instructions by Oct 23.    

If a student, whose information has been sent to the authorities, cannot register on Surokkha, their institution will need to send their information again, the directorate said on Thursday.