Upazila chairman gets jab at home
Luta Haider Rashid, chairman of Rajshahi's Tanore upazila, was administered his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in his government residence on Tuesday, flouting vaccination rules.
The vaccine can be given only at the vaccination centres designated by the government.
Also, the vaccine was administered by a man who works as a porter at the upazila health office, not by any health staffer.
One of Rashid's aides took a photo of the porter injecting the dose and posted it on Facebook. The post was later removed, but it had already gone viral, drawing flak.
Asked, Rajshahi Civil Surgeon Quiume Talukder said administration of Covid vaccines outside the government centres is prohibited.
He said he issued a show-cause notice yesterday, asking Tanore Upazila Health Officer Barnabas Hasda to explain in three days why the chairman was vaccinated in his home.
"People wait in queues for hours in the vaccination centres to take Covid shots and you are having it at your home. This is not ethical at all," he said.
He also accused the upazila chairman of misusing his power for taking the vaccine.
Health officials confirmed that the man seen in the photo administering the dose on the chairman was Nishan Mandal, a porter who works to transport vaccines from government stores to vaccination centres.
Contacted by The Daily Star, Nishan admitted jabbing the chairman and said he learnt the job by "observing health staffers".
The upazila parishad chairman said he asked health staffers to vaccinate him at his home because it "would save his time".
"I had to go to Dhaka for an emergency. So I requested them to come to my home and give me the shot."
Barnabas Hasda, the upazila health officer, said he only cooperated with the chairman by acting on his request. He, however, acknowledged that sending vaccines outside vaccination centres was illegal.
But Tanore UNO Pankaj Chandra Devnath described the incident as a "minor" one. "I don't see anything wrong here. It can happen during emergencies," he said.
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