Health authorities are planning to administer the cholera vaccine in Dhaka’s five most diarrhoea affected areas soon after the Eid celebration.
According to the Disease Control unit of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the tentative date for the start of the cholera vaccination campaign is May 7, the first Saturday of next month.
Dhaka has been experiencing an unexpected upsurge of diarrheal diseases since mid-March, although the number of cases is trending downwards.
When contacted, DGHS Director (Disease Control) Dr Nazmul Islam confirmed plans to administer the cholera vaccine in the capital’s most diarrhoea affected areas soon after Eid.
“The possible date we have decided is May 7 and the vaccine would be administered till May 10. The micro-level plan is being formulated by the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI),” he added.
EPI will implement the plan in line with its regular vaccination programs.
The number of temporary vaccination centres in an area will be determined by the population living there, the DGHS director said, adding that they have collected around 4.7 million doses of oral cholera vaccines.
Covid vaccination on right track
Dr Nazmul Islam, also one of the spokespersons for the DGHS, said the Covid-19 vaccine campaign had slowed down a little but was still well on track.
“You can understand the progress seeing how many people got their second dose. Almost 90% of the people who have received the first dose have also taken the second dose. We are hoping vaccination will pick up again after Eid,” he added.
According to DGHS, at least 128.35 million people have received their first dose, and 115.48 million among them have received their second dose. Only 11.25million people, around 11.5% of first dose recipients, have received booster doses.
At present, health authorities are providing booster doses to people aged over 17 once four months have passed since their second dose.