Special Mass Vaccination: Not happening anytime soon
Due to the shortage of Covid-19 vaccine doses, the government will not be able to launch the planned special mass vaccination campaign anytime soon, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said yesterday.
"We inoculated 34 lakh people in a day during the [special] mass inoculation. We will run such a campaign again after we get enough doses," Zahid told journalists after a discussion on the National Mourning Day.
A few days ago, the director general of the health directorate, Prof Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, said the government had plans to launch a special campaign from August 17.
"The duration of the special campaign will depend on the availability of vaccine doses," he told this newspaper on Thursday.
The pilot six-day special vaccination drive ended on Thursday with 55 lakh people receiving their first shot, according to the DGHS. The target at the outset was to vaccinate 32 lakh people. But the number was raised due to overwhelming demand for the vaccines.
However, the six-day drive, was mired by irregularities. People stood in mile-long queues on roads, crowds jammed themselves into vaccination centres and brawls broke out, turning into potential superspreading events. Besides, thousands returned home without jabs due to shortage of vaccine doses.
Meanwhile, about 44 lakh Sinopharm doses arrived in the country as of yesterday even though the health minister earlier said 54 lakh doses of the vaccine would arrive by August 15.
The government suspended administering the first dose of Moderna vaccine, saving the doses in stock to be used as the second jab.
Officials said the regular mass vaccination campaign will continue through 1,005 inoculation points.
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