First day of Covid-19 vaccination in Korail slum sees long queues
Korail slum dwellers stand in line to get the Covid-19 vaccine at Polli Bondhu Shishu Kalyan Primary School in Dhaka on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Report
Publish : 16 Nov 2021, 08:12 PMUpdate : 16 Nov 2021, 08:12 PM
Tuesday’s campaign started at 9am and was scheduled to conclude at 4pm, with the option to extend it by an hour based on demand.
DGHS Line Director Dr Md Shamsul Haque, who is also member secretary of the vaccine deployment panel, said: “This time around our goal is to bring everyone living in slums under the vaccination campaign.”
“Happy” to get vaccinated
Garment workers Md Shohel and his wife Nilufar Akter could not get vaccinated in the mass vaccination campaign due to various reasons. Shohel did not get his turn due to huge crowds at the centres while Nilufar did not have an NID card.
The campaign dedicated to slum dwellers has brought some much-needed relief to people like them. Nilufar got the vaccine by only producing her birth certificate.
Raju, a cleaner by profession, said: "I did not think that we would get the vaccine, but now that the campaign has started, I urge the government to inoculate all slum dwellers as we are at high risk [of contracting coronavirus] due to the high population density."
House help Amena Akter, who could get the Covid-19 vaccine earlier for not having an NID card, expressed her joy at finally receiving it with her birth certificate, despite having stood in a queue for 2 hours.
Sixty-year-old Idris said he could not stand in a queue for long stretches of time, but others let him stand in the front of the queue considering his age, an act of kindness that made the sexagenarian "immensely happy".
The special campaign to vaccinate the residents of Korail slum started at Polli Bondhu Shishu Kalyan Primary School on Tuesday morning with the authorities inoculating 6,321 people on the first day of the program.
The campaign is being conducted at 11 centres in the slum and will continue until 80% of people there get the vaccine, according to the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).
Domestic help Rina Akhter and her 55-year-old mother Jahanara Begum stood in a long queue at the school’s playground at 9:30am to get vaccinated, and finally received it one and a half hours later.
Rina had taken two days off from work to get inoculated when the nationwide campaign first started in August but was unable to get it at the time due to overwhelming crowds at the centres.
She said: “All the people of the home I work at have been vaccinated and they asked me to get the vaccine as soon as I could. They care about their safety because we work at different places and homes.”
Her mother Jahanara said: "Some local leaders came to Bowbazar of Korail Bosti yesterday (Monday) and told us to come here for the Covid-19 vaccine. I got it without any hassle, but I had to stand in a long queue for almost two hours.”
Like Rina, many house helps from the neighbourhood went there together to get the vaccine. They are all residents of Korail slum and work at different homes in Gulshan, Banani and Mohakhali.
A man is administered the Covid-19 vaccine at Polli Bondhu Shishu Kalyan Primary School in Korail slum in Dhaka on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
The authorities have set up 25 booths in the slum, with each booth having 600 doses in its possession. The campaign will continue on Friday and Saturday as well.
After the vaccinations at Korail slum, which houses around 300,000 people, the campaign will be extended to other slums of the capital in phases.
The health directorate has taken the vaccination campaign to Korail with the target of inoculating slum dwellers through on-the-spot registration.
Members of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society are assisting in the vaccination process.
Previously, the government carried out walk-in vaccinations in two phases. A week-long vaccination drive was carried out from August 7 to 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.
Md Selim Reza, chief executive officer of the DNCC, said: “Altogether 15,000 vaccines arrived today [Tuesday] in Korail and 20,000 doses will be stored from tomorrow [Wednesday].”
There was a plan to inoculate millions of slum dwellers in Dhaka initially, he added.
Brig Gen Md Zobaidur Rahman, chief health officer of the DNCC, hoped that the number of vaccine recipients would increase as the campaign progressed.
Slum dwellers must at least have birth certificates to get the Covid-19 vaccine, according to DNCC Health Department officials.
A visit to the Shishu Kalyan Primary School playground on Tuesday morning revealed that women far outnumbered men seeking to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
An elderly woman sits beside a line at Polli Bondhu Shishu Kalyan Primary School in Korail slum in Dhaka to get the Covid-19 vaccine, on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Tuesday’s campaign started at 9am and was scheduled to conclude at 4pm, with the option to extend it by an hour based on demand.
DGHS Line Director Dr Md Shamsul Haque, who is also member secretary of the vaccine deployment panel, said: “This time around our goal is to bring everyone living in slums under the vaccination campaign.”
“Happy” to get vaccinated
Garment workers Md Shohel and his wife Nilufar Akter could not get vaccinated in the mass vaccination campaign due to various reasons. Shohel did not get his turn due to huge crowds at the centres while Nilufar did not have an NID card.
The campaign dedicated to slum dwellers has brought some much-needed relief to people like them. Nilufar got the vaccine by only producing her birth certificate.
Raju, a cleaner by profession, said: "I did not think that we would get the vaccine, but now that the campaign has started, I urge the government to inoculate all slum dwellers as we are at high risk [of contracting coronavirus] due to the high population density."
House help Amena Akter, who could get the Covid-19 vaccine earlier for not having an NID card, expressed her joy at finally receiving it with her birth certificate, despite having stood in a queue for 2 hours.
Sixty-year-old Idris said he could not stand in a queue for long stretches of time, but others let him stand in the front of the queue considering his age, an act of kindness that made the sexagenarian "immensely happy".
First day of Covid-19 vaccination in Korail slum sees long queues
Tuesday’s campaign started at 9am and was scheduled to conclude at 4pm, with the option to extend it by an hour based on demand.
DGHS Line Director Dr Md Shamsul Haque, who is also member secretary of the vaccine deployment panel, said: “This time around our goal is to bring everyone living in slums under the vaccination campaign.”
“Happy” to get vaccinated
Garment workers Md Shohel and his wife Nilufar Akter could not get vaccinated in the mass vaccination campaign due to various reasons. Shohel did not get his turn due to huge crowds at the centres while Nilufar did not have an NID card.
The campaign dedicated to slum dwellers has brought some much-needed relief to people like them. Nilufar got the vaccine by only producing her birth certificate.
Raju, a cleaner by profession, said: "I did not think that we would get the vaccine, but now that the campaign has started, I urge the government to inoculate all slum dwellers as we are at high risk [of contracting coronavirus] due to the high population density."
House help Amena Akter, who could get the Covid-19 vaccine earlier for not having an NID card, expressed her joy at finally receiving it with her birth certificate, despite having stood in a queue for 2 hours.
Sixty-year-old Idris said he could not stand in a queue for long stretches of time, but others let him stand in the front of the queue considering his age, an act of kindness that made the sexagenarian "immensely happy".
The special campaign to vaccinate the residents of Korail slum started at Polli Bondhu Shishu Kalyan Primary School on Tuesday morning with the authorities inoculating 6,321 people on the first day of the program.
The campaign is being conducted at 11 centres in the slum and will continue until 80% of people there get the vaccine, according to the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).
Domestic help Rina Akhter and her 55-year-old mother Jahanara Begum stood in a long queue at the school’s playground at 9:30am to get vaccinated, and finally received it one and a half hours later.
Rina had taken two days off from work to get inoculated when the nationwide campaign first started in August but was unable to get it at the time due to overwhelming crowds at the centres.
She said: “All the people of the home I work at have been vaccinated and they asked me to get the vaccine as soon as I could. They care about their safety because we work at different places and homes.”
Her mother Jahanara said: "Some local leaders came to Bowbazar of Korail Bosti yesterday (Monday) and told us to come here for the Covid-19 vaccine. I got it without any hassle, but I had to stand in a long queue for almost two hours.”
Like Rina, many house helps from the neighbourhood went there together to get the vaccine. They are all residents of Korail slum and work at different homes in Gulshan, Banani and Mohakhali.
The authorities have set up 25 booths in the slum, with each booth having 600 doses in its possession. The campaign will continue on Friday and Saturday as well.
After the vaccinations at Korail slum, which houses around 300,000 people, the campaign will be extended to other slums of the capital in phases.
The health directorate has taken the vaccination campaign to Korail with the target of inoculating slum dwellers through on-the-spot registration.
Members of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society are assisting in the vaccination process.
Previously, the government carried out walk-in vaccinations in two phases. A week-long vaccination drive was carried out from August 7 to August 12.
Also Read- In pictures: Korail slum dwellers get Covid-19 vaccines
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.
Md Selim Reza, chief executive officer of the DNCC, said: “Altogether 15,000 vaccines arrived today [Tuesday] in Korail and 20,000 doses will be stored from tomorrow [Wednesday].”
There was a plan to inoculate millions of slum dwellers in Dhaka initially, he added.
Brig Gen Md Zobaidur Rahman, chief health officer of the DNCC, hoped that the number of vaccine recipients would increase as the campaign progressed.
Slum dwellers must at least have birth certificates to get the Covid-19 vaccine, according to DNCC Health Department officials.
A visit to the Shishu Kalyan Primary School playground on Tuesday morning revealed that women far outnumbered men seeking to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
Tuesday’s campaign started at 9am and was scheduled to conclude at 4pm, with the option to extend it by an hour based on demand.
DGHS Line Director Dr Md Shamsul Haque, who is also member secretary of the vaccine deployment panel, said: “This time around our goal is to bring everyone living in slums under the vaccination campaign.”
“Happy” to get vaccinated
Garment workers Md Shohel and his wife Nilufar Akter could not get vaccinated in the mass vaccination campaign due to various reasons. Shohel did not get his turn due to huge crowds at the centres while Nilufar did not have an NID card.
The campaign dedicated to slum dwellers has brought some much-needed relief to people like them. Nilufar got the vaccine by only producing her birth certificate.
Raju, a cleaner by profession, said: "I did not think that we would get the vaccine, but now that the campaign has started, I urge the government to inoculate all slum dwellers as we are at high risk [of contracting coronavirus] due to the high population density."
House help Amena Akter, who could get the Covid-19 vaccine earlier for not having an NID card, expressed her joy at finally receiving it with her birth certificate, despite having stood in a queue for 2 hours.
Sixty-year-old Idris said he could not stand in a queue for long stretches of time, but others let him stand in the front of the queue considering his age, an act of kindness that made the sexagenarian "immensely happy".