Outgoing migrants to get Moderna jabs
Several hundred expatriate migrant workers -- mostly from Saudi Arabia -- yesterday demonstrated for a few hours at the vaccination centre at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (SSMCH), demanding they be adminstered the Pfizer vaccine.
The expatriates who went to the centre yesterday morning started chanting slogans when authorities stopped providing the Pfizer vaccine.
Though the authorities offered them to take Moderna vaccine, they refused it, saying they were registered for the Pfizer vaccine and Saudi Arabian authorities will not allow them into the country with other vaccines, said some expatriates.
However, they again started taking the Moderna vaccine after around two hours, when authorities showed them documents from the Bangladesh consulate in Saudi Arabia. The documents said expatriates with four vaccines -- Pfizer, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson are eligible to enter Saudi Arabia.
The letter also read as per the direction of Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), anyone who has not taken one of the four designated vaccines will have to remain in 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
Those who have already taken the vaccine from Saudi government will remain out of it, it read.
"We wanted the Pfizer vaccine as this vaccine is available in Saudi Arabia. If I take Pfizer vaccine in Bangladesh then I will be able to take a second dose in Saudi Arabia if necessary, which will not be possible with Moderna," said Iqram Hossain, who came to the centre from Faridpur and was supposed to take the vaccine on July 15.
He said they will have to remain in quarantine for 14 days at their own cost if they do not take the vaccine properly.
Director of SSMCH Dr Md Khalilur Rahman said as there is a shortage of Pfizer vaccine, they are now offering Moderna vaccine as per the instruction of the government.
He said expatriates had refused to take Moderna vaccine initially but they were convinced around one hour later when they showed necessary documents in favour of eligibility of the vaccine in Saudi Arabia.
Khalilur said they could inoculate only 100 persons yesterday with Pfizer vaccine, though they had inoculated 1,570 expatriates on Tuesday.
He said they will provide only Moderna vaccines from tomorrow in the centre.
Health directorate officials yesterday said migrant workers will get Moderna Covid-19 vaccine after the stock of Pfizer vaccine ends by today or tomorrow in seven Dhaka hospitals.
"We are preserving second doses of the Pfizer vaccine. When the stock of the vaccine's first doses runs out, migrant workers will get the Moderna vaccine and we have available stock for this," Dr Shamsul Alam, a line director of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said yesterday in a virtual briefing.
He said there is no reason to be concerned about the vaccination, as they have enough stock for now.
He said Moderna vaccines are being administered in all divisional cities and city corporation areas. "Those who have no urgency, please have patience [after registration]. You will get the vaccine without difficulties."
As many migrant workers who are supposed to fly out soon are facing difficulties, Dr Shamsul Alam said they were addressing the issue.
He said no one should come to the vaccination centres without a confirmation SMS.
Expatriate workers started receiving Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines from July 8.
The government has been administering Covid-19 vaccines to migrant workers at seven centres in Dhaka as well as districts and upazilas across the country on a priority basis.
Senior Assistant Secretary of ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Sarwoer Alam said expatriates will have to go to the Saudi Arabia completing two doses of the vaccine.
Comments