A majority of Bangladesh's marginalized communities are lagging behind in receiving Covid-19 vaccines, a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) report says.
A mere half of people in the Bede, Dalit, and Harijan communities have received vaccines against Coronavirus, said Md Firoz Uddin, cluster coordinator at TIB on Thursday at a conference held in Khulna.
This report was conducted by TIB's affiliated organization Socheton Nagorik Committee between December 12 and 14 at Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH) to get a better understanding of the Covid-19 situation in Khulna.
Around 90 people were interviewed from KMCH vaccination booths, including 15 people from marginalized communities.
The report suggests that institutional efforts to raise public awareness about vaccinations were lacking in the district. “Some 93.2% people knew that vaccinations were necessary, and 86.5% had an idea about the side effects of the vaccines.”
“Meanwhile, 55.81% of people knew which vaccine they were getting,” the report added.
While the government has taken initiatives to offer free vaccinations, 65% people in Khulna still had to pay for vaccine registration, print their vaccination cards, and travel to vaccination centres, said Firoz Uddin.
“People have also suffered immensely due to the lack of staff at the hospital and inadequate booths to offer timely vaccination,” he added.
The TIB report mentioned that there was no irregularity or corruption at the vaccination centre. However, the organization has made 12-point recommendations for district health officials to further improve their services.
Khulna Divisional Health Director Md Manjurul Murshid said: “Despite the limitations we faced, we have done our best to serve our people in Khulna by including people of all classes and professions.”
He further assured TIB’s recommendations would be followed strictly.