Vaccination Drive: 200 transport workers get jabs on first day
A total of 200 transport workers got Covid-19 jabs yesterday, the first day of a special drive to bring the workers under the vaccination programme.
They received the vaccine at a makeshift centre at the capital's Mohakhali Bus Terminal.
The drive will continue today but not at the terminal, rather at nearby vaccination centres, as the terminal is not suitable for the programme, officials said.
The Cabinet Division in a circular on January 10 directed that only vaccinated transport workers would be allowed to operate vehicles.
As many of the workers remain unvaccinated, the government started the drive in the capital, said Sitangshu Shekhar Biswas, director (engineering) of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), after the programme's inauguration. He said they would conduct the drive until all workers are vaccinated.
Manir Hossain, a driver of long-haul buses, was among the workers gathered near the centre. "I didn't get a text message even after registering a long time ago. So, I came here because our leaders told us that we wouldn't be able to drive if we're not vaccinated," he said.
Zhumana Ashrafi Sweety, medical officer at Dhaka Civil Surgeon Office, said they are planning to vaccinate 900 workers, but BRTA, through transport associations, provided a list of only 100 workers. The other 100 who came to the centre received the vaccine on the spot.
A BRTA official said transport workers of Mohakhali Bus Terminal would be vaccinated at the nearby DNCC Covid-19 Dedicated Hospital today.
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