At the beginning, 6 million people will get the first dose of the vaccine

In the beginning, 6 million people will get the first dose of the vaccine

The government has made some changes to the corona vaccination plan. In the initial stage, 6 million people will be vaccinated with the first dose. The Ministry of Health has changed its vaccination plan after it was confirmed that more vaccines will be introduced in the country. The ministry took this decision last Thursday.

ASM Alamgir, chief scientific officer of the government's Institute of Pathology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told reporters. He gave this information at a discussion meeting titled 'Infection Movement and Corona Vaccine' organized at Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) building on Friday. Five experts from across the country addressed the meeting organized by the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum.

In his keynote address at the meeting, ASM Alamgir said 16 lakh 46 thousand people have been vaccinated in the country so far. This number is more than 1 percent of the total population of the country. Neighboring India has not yet vaccinated 1% of its population.

Before the mass vaccination campaign began in February, the government said Bangladesh had 6 million vaccines in its hands. This vaccine will be given to 35 lakh people in two doses. The government has made changes to the vaccination plan to ensure that the next shipment of vaccines arrives, said the chief scientific officer of the IEDCR. He said 20 lakh vaccines will come from India on February 22. In addition, the global initiative Covax was to vaccinate 20 percent of the country's people. Kovacs is now talking about vaccinating 28 percent of the country's population.

Professor Iqbal Arslan, a member of the technical committee of the health ministry and president of the Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, an Awami League-backed doctors' association, said some of the vaccines available in Bangladesh were made in October. It will expire in April. The rest of the vaccines are made in January, they will expire in June. The government is making changes to the vaccination plan considering the different duration and supply situations.

Joining the event virtually, the Prime Minister's personal physician Professor ABM Abdullah said, "It would be wrong for the people of Bangladesh to be complacent that they are getting vaccinated." Bangladesh cannot be good if people all over the world are not good. Keep in mind that this vaccine does not guarantee 100 percent protection from the virus. Each of the experts emphasizes wearing a mask, adhering to hygiene rules, and maintaining social distance. They said that even after vaccination, these should be continued.

Professor Sameer Saha, a microbiologist, said the pneumonia vaccine came to Bangladesh 22 years after it was first used. Corona vaccine has been found in much less time than that. He said there have been more than 600 genome sequencing of coronaviruses in the country. The country did not have genome sequencing devices, but it did not. These instruments were not seen to be used.

Taking part in the discussion, public health expert Abu Jamil Faisal said that people's representatives and religious leaders need to be involved in the registration and vaccination process. In addition, people need to be properly informed about the risks and benefits of vaccination and non-vaccination.