Kulsum Begum couldn’t take the Covid vaccine earlier because she had not registered for it. She did not know how to do it herself and had no one at home to do it for her. The 62-year old’s vaccination was further delayed after a road accident that injured her last year. Finally, she went to the Friendship Club field in the capital’s Uttara area for the dose.
“I know it's important to get vaccinated but there was no easy option for me to follow,” said Kulsum, a housemaid by profession who has been living in Dhaka for nearly 20 years.
The government on Saturday inaugurated a campaign to provide the Covid-19 vaccine to shop owners and employees in the capital in order to expand the scope of immunization. It has divided the different markets of the capital into 10 zones.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), all shop owners and employees will be vaccinated against Covid-19 under this program.
On the first day of the program on Saturday, more than three and a half thousand people from the Uttara zone received the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine. Those over 18 years of age are getting the vaccine through immediate registration on the basis of National Identity Cards or Birth Registration Certificates. The program lasted from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. The second dose will be provided at the same venue a month later.
One of the main challenges the program is facing is that many do not have any supporting documents such as birth certificates or national identity cards.
Nurzaman, a day labourer, keeps all his important documents with his wife in his hometown of Comilla. With a lack of supporting documents, initially, Nurzaman thought he wouldn't be able to get the vaccine. However, he was happy to hear that people would get vaccines without any supporting documents under this campaign.
Stating that the government had an adequate stock of vaccines, Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the Covid-19 vaccine management taskforce of the DGHS, said: “Work is underway to bring all the people of the country under vaccination programs quickly. Here, people are being vaccinated with minimum documentary support.”
“People with no documents will also get vaccines. Homeless people will be the main beneficiaries of this campaign as the government will be able to attain its target of immunizing 70% of the population by June this year,” said Dr Shamsul Haque.
Some 101 million people have been given the first dose so far, whereas 68.1 million have been given both doses across the country. Also, more than 2.423 million people have received the booster dose so far, the official said.
“We are planning to increase the booster dose facilities,” he added.
Though the vaccination campaign targets shop owners and employees, it is not limited to them only. A large number of floating people will also come under the purview of the program, he said.
Rickshaw puller Md Rofiqul Islam was looking for an authorized person to jot down his phone number so that he would get a call when it was time for the second dose.
Like him, Selina Khatun had been waiting since 7am. She was asking the authorities whether her national ID card would be enough for her to take the first shot.
Rezwan Naveen, operations in charge of the program, said: “The vaccination program will be carried out in 9 more phases in the capital. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society has plans to vaccinate more than half a million small entrepreneurs and their employees across Dhaka.”
Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, Dhaka 17 MP Mohammad Habib Hasan and Bangladesh Shop Owners Association President Helal Uddin were present at the venue during the inauguration.
In collaboration with the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Bangladesh Shop-Owners Association, the month-long immunization program is being implemented by 100 vaccinators trained by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and 200 skilled volunteers.
