The government has decided to take the vaccination campaign to the doorsteps of schools to ease the process of inoculating students aged from 12 to 17 in the country.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque disclosed the plan while speaking as the chief guest at a program organized by the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) on Thursday afternoon.
The government started vaccinating schoolchildren from November 1, eight months after the nationwide vaccination program got underway.
At present vaccines are provided to students in selected centres, which is causing more problems for the students.
Replying to a question, the health minister said at present the authorities were administering Pfizer vaccines at 18 to 20 school centres in the capital and every school had been assigned to vaccinate five more schools.
“It is creating a complex situation as many of the students are struggling to complete their registration,” he said.
To solve the problem, teams from the health authorities will go to schools where there are no vaccination centres nearby, he said, adding that separate teams would be deployed under the DGHS in this regard.
The vaccination drive would continue at the existing centres as well, he added.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the vaccination drive is ongoing in 23 districts in the country while 24 more districts will be included soon.
Regarding maintaining the preservation temperature of the vaccines, the minister said: “It is a challenge that we have accepted. We will take whatever steps are needed to vaccinate our schoolchildren.”
Zahid Maleque said Bangladesh had placed an order for the purchase of over 70 million doses of Sinovac vaccines from China. "We are hoping to receive the vaccines at the end of this month, it may come next month too.”
Director General (DG) of DGDA Major General Mahbubur Rahman presided over the ceremony while DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam and representatives from international development partners were also present at the program.
