13,000 sign up for Covid-19 vaccine shots

Over 13,000 people have registered online for inoculation against Covid-19 as of yesterday noon, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

But many in priority groups, such as frontline workers and those aged over 55, have complained about facing difficulties in online registration.

Since the android app for registration has yet to be available on Google Play Store, people got registered on www.surokkha.gov.bd, which was opened on January 27, officials said, adding that the app will be available in a few days.

The ICT division, which developed the registration process, might later inform how many people have registered from which group, they said.

Officials also said they were working on the technical issues that caused the difficulties for people who are supposed to get the vaccine in the first phase.

Some people reported that they could not find the name of vaccination centres during registration, said an official of the Management Information System (MIS) of the health directorate.

On the "Surokkha" website, the list of vaccination centers appears automatically based on the address used in the National ID card.

"If someone enters their present address, the list of centres will not appear. We have the permanent address of the NID cardholders in our database," said the official.

"There are a few more minor technical issues. We are working on it and it will be fixed in the next few days," he said.

Officials said current online registration is based on the priority list provided by various enlisted organisations such as government hospitals, law enforcement agencies, journalist associations, and people aged over 55.

Many people in these priority groups aged below 55 said their registration was declined when they filled out the form.

"We have been updating the list of frontline workers immediately after getting the list from their organisations," Md Toufiq Hassan Shawon, medical officer at the MIS, told The Daily Star yesterday.

"Every vaccine recipient will get necessary information via their mobile number. They must register even after inclusion of NID numbers in the database," Shawon said.

On January 13, the DGHS asked all deputy commissioners to send the list of frontline staffers and their NID numbers.

MIS is yet to receive the priority lists from many districts, officials said.

"The mobile app will be available for the users by February 4," Prof ABM Khurshid Alam, director general of DGHS, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The app uploaded to Google Play Store and is awaiting authorisation, he added.

A total of 567 frontline workers received the first jab during the two-day piloting on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

The government has decided to inoculate 1.5 crore people in the first phase.

The mass vaccination campaign is set to start on February 7 -- the government has planned to inoculate 60 lakh people in the first month and another 50 lakh the following month.

Vaccine inoculation will start in 49 centers in Dhaka city and in 613 centers outside.