Korail slum dwellers to get Covid-19 vaccines from Tuesday
File photo: Korail, the largest slum in Dhaka, sitting on a 150-acre land belonging to Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited, has been home to several thousand poor people since 1956 Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Report
Publish : 15 Nov 2021, 05:57 PMUpdate : 15 Nov 2021, 09:18 PM
The government is set to vaccinate the residents of Korail slum, one of the largest inhabitants of low-income people bordering Gulshan and Banani, from Tuesday.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will bring nearly 300,000 people living in the slum under the Covid-19 vaccination program, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
“Other slums will gradually come under the program,” he said, adding that people would be able to register on the spot.
According to the DGHS, the vaccination program will start at 9am on Tuesday in one centre. However, it did not confirm how many teams would be deployed there.
The minister said school going students would also come under the program. “At present, students in one district are receiving Covid jabs while students of more than 23 districts will be brought under the net within one or two days.”
“Later, we will bring 24 more districts under the program. With the enlargement of the vaccination programme, it will be more effective for the continuation of the school program,” he added.
Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the vaccination management committee, told reporters the committee was not going to increase the number of centres for inoculating school students in the capital.
“Some districts have already started the vaccination program. The number of vaccination centres and booths will depend on the local health authorities and the number of students,” he observed.
Zahid Maleque also confirmed the authorities had planned to bring the areas with comparatively higher population density under the vaccination coverage. “Therefore, the government also plans to inoculate garment workers.”
Arrangements have also been made in Dhaka North City Corporation to inoculate the physically challenged people, the minister said, adding: “It is this successful integration that now expatriates are allowed to get entry to the receiving countries for work.”
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at the freezer van distribution program, gifted by USAID, at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in the capital.
Among others, Director General of DGHS Prof Rd ABM Khurshid Alam, Mission director of USAID to Bangladesh Kathryn Stevens, William Dowers, acting deputy chief of mission US embassy, and officials from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were present at the program.
Govt targets vaccinating 30 million people in November
Reiterating that there were enough vaccines in government stocks, the health minister said that the government had a target of administering some 30 million doses of vaccines this month alone.
Some 12.7 million Covid jabs have already been administered this month.
According to the minister, the health authorities now have the capacity to administer 1.5 million doses of Covid 19 vaccines in a day.
The government has so far received over 110 million doses of Covid vaccines, among which 85 million have been administered.
Previously, the government carried out walk-in vaccinations in two phases. A week-long vaccination drive was carried out from August 7 and August 12.
On September 6, the government announced another mass vaccination drive with the aim of administering 8 million doses on the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s birthday.
DPP for vaccine production ready
Health minister Zahid Maleque also said the authorities had completed formulating the Development Project Proposal (DPP) and had sent it to the ministry.
Now the ministry will evaluate it and send it to ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council), the executive committee under the Cabinet Division that verifies, imports, approves and advances national important development projects.
Once ECNEC approves the DPP, work on construction would commence, he added.
Maleque also said that land had been selected in Gopalganj to establish a vaccine production plant for the government-run drug company Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL).
Korail slum dwellers to get Covid-19 vaccines from Tuesday
The government is set to vaccinate the residents of Korail slum, one of the largest inhabitants of low-income people bordering Gulshan and Banani, from Tuesday.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will bring nearly 300,000 people living in the slum under the Covid-19 vaccination program, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
“Other slums will gradually come under the program,” he said, adding that people would be able to register on the spot.
According to the DGHS, the vaccination program will start at 9am on Tuesday in one centre. However, it did not confirm how many teams would be deployed there.
The minister said school going students would also come under the program. “At present, students in one district are receiving Covid jabs while students of more than 23 districts will be brought under the net within one or two days.”
“Later, we will bring 24 more districts under the program. With the enlargement of the vaccination programme, it will be more effective for the continuation of the school program,” he added.
Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the vaccination management committee, told reporters the committee was not going to increase the number of centres for inoculating school students in the capital.
“Some districts have already started the vaccination program. The number of vaccination centres and booths will depend on the local health authorities and the number of students,” he observed.
Zahid Maleque also confirmed the authorities had planned to bring the areas with comparatively higher population density under the vaccination coverage. “Therefore, the government also plans to inoculate garment workers.”
Arrangements have also been made in Dhaka North City Corporation to inoculate the physically challenged people, the minister said, adding: “It is this successful integration that now expatriates are allowed to get entry to the receiving countries for work.”
Also Read- Mass vaccination: Centres in Dhaka overwhelmed by long queues
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at the freezer van distribution program, gifted by USAID, at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in the capital.
Among others, Director General of DGHS Prof Rd ABM Khurshid Alam, Mission director of USAID to Bangladesh Kathryn Stevens, William Dowers, acting deputy chief of mission US embassy, and officials from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were present at the program.
Govt targets vaccinating 30 million people in November
Reiterating that there were enough vaccines in government stocks, the health minister said that the government had a target of administering some 30 million doses of vaccines this month alone.
Some 12.7 million Covid jabs have already been administered this month.
According to the minister, the health authorities now have the capacity to administer 1.5 million doses of Covid 19 vaccines in a day.
The government has so far received over 110 million doses of Covid vaccines, among which 85 million have been administered.
Previously, the government carried out walk-in vaccinations in two phases. A week-long vaccination drive was carried out from August 7 and August 12.
On September 6, the government announced another mass vaccination drive with the aim of administering 8 million doses on the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s birthday.
DPP for vaccine production ready
Health minister Zahid Maleque also said the authorities had completed formulating the Development Project Proposal (DPP) and had sent it to the ministry.
Now the ministry will evaluate it and send it to ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council), the executive committee under the Cabinet Division that verifies, imports, approves and advances national important development projects.
Once ECNEC approves the DPP, work on construction would commence, he added.
Maleque also said that land had been selected in Gopalganj to establish a vaccine production plant for the government-run drug company Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL).