Sporadic turnout on first day of ward-level vaccine drive
Rural people not as enthusiastic to get the vaccine as their urban counterparts, officials say
File photo of a person receiving the Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Dhaka Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka tribune
Tribune Report
Publish : 01 Jan 2022, 10:40 PMUpdate : 01 Jan 2022, 10:40 PM
The special Covid-19 vaccination drive began at the ward level across the country on Saturday with a markedly lower turnout than previous vaccination drives.
The health authorities attributed the lower turnout at some centres to the ongoing Union Parishad elections and a lack of urgency to get the vaccine among residents of rural areas.
Dr Shamshul Haque, member secretary of the national Covid 19 vaccination committee, told Dhaka Tribune it was too early to say whether Bangladesh would be able to reach its target to inoculate 33.2 million people during the special vaccination drive. A rough estimate of the number of vaccine seekers at the centres may be provided in the next few days.
He said the health authorities would not collect data separately for this special vaccination campaign.
“I can tell from the reports we have received so far that a significant number of people are coming to the centres to take shots,” he told this correspondent.
“It is not that we are running this special vaccination program seven days a week. There are several centres, and each centre runs a few days a week. This is why it is difficult to estimate the turnout on the first day,” he told the correspondent.
He also pointed out that people in some villages probably could not show up at the centres on Saturday because elections were being held in many wards across the nation.
However, Barisal Civil Surgeon Md Monowar Hossain told Dhaka Tribune people in various wards were not going to vaccination centres as enthusiastically as residents of urban areas.
“We run campaigns via community clinics so that people get motivated to take the shots, but not many people came to the centres on the first day of this special vaccination drive. However, people might come spontaneously after a few days,” he said.
He pointed out that people in rural areas were not as affected by Covid-19 as people in urban areas, and therefore they might not feel the urgency to take the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Thursday informed the media about its plans to expand the Covid-19 vaccination drive to the ward level.
According to the EPI unit, each union parishad will be divided into 24 blocks, with temporary vaccination centres or booths established at each block. Each booth will be stocked with enough vaccines to inoculate 300-500 people.
Sporadic turnout on first day of ward-level vaccine drive
The special Covid-19 vaccination drive began at the ward level across the country on Saturday with a markedly lower turnout than previous vaccination drives.
The health authorities attributed the lower turnout at some centres to the ongoing Union Parishad elections and a lack of urgency to get the vaccine among residents of rural areas.
Dr Shamshul Haque, member secretary of the national Covid 19 vaccination committee, told Dhaka Tribune it was too early to say whether Bangladesh would be able to reach its target to inoculate 33.2 million people during the special vaccination drive. A rough estimate of the number of vaccine seekers at the centres may be provided in the next few days.
He said the health authorities would not collect data separately for this special vaccination campaign.
“I can tell from the reports we have received so far that a significant number of people are coming to the centres to take shots,” he told this correspondent.
“It is not that we are running this special vaccination program seven days a week. There are several centres, and each centre runs a few days a week. This is why it is difficult to estimate the turnout on the first day,” he told the correspondent.
He also pointed out that people in some villages probably could not show up at the centres on Saturday because elections were being held in many wards across the nation.
However, Barisal Civil Surgeon Md Monowar Hossain told Dhaka Tribune people in various wards were not going to vaccination centres as enthusiastically as residents of urban areas.
“We run campaigns via community clinics so that people get motivated to take the shots, but not many people came to the centres on the first day of this special vaccination drive. However, people might come spontaneously after a few days,” he said.
He pointed out that people in rural areas were not as affected by Covid-19 as people in urban areas, and therefore they might not feel the urgency to take the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Thursday informed the media about its plans to expand the Covid-19 vaccination drive to the ward level.
According to the EPI unit, each union parishad will be divided into 24 blocks, with temporary vaccination centres or booths established at each block. Each booth will be stocked with enough vaccines to inoculate 300-500 people.
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