Covid Shots: Inoculation of Rohingyas begins

Mass inoculation against Covid-19 began at the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar yesterday.

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Syed Rezwan Hayat formally inaugurated the vaccination campaign at the Kutupalong camp in Ukhiya upazila around 11:00am.

Initially, around 49,000 Rohingyas, aged 55 and above, will be vaccinated, he said while addressing the inaugural function.

The district's civil surgeon Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, senior officials of law enforcement agencies, other government and NGO officials, among others, were present there.

Contacted, the RRRC office's health coordinator Dr Abu Toha MR Bhuiyan said, "We have a plan to vaccinate around 700 Rohingyas daily. A total of 58 vaccination centres have been set up in all the 34 camps."

The vaccination programme will start at 9:00am and end at 3:00pm every day and it will continue for a week, Titu Chandra Shil, Teknaf upazila health and family planning officer, told The Daily Star.

Meanwhile, the vaccination programme has drawn a good response from the Rohingyas.

"We are very much interested in taking the vaccines," said Hafez Jalal Ahmed, a Rohingya community leader in Kutupalong camp.

This correspondent talked to around a dozen Rohingyas, who got vaccines yesterday at Hilna Nayapara camp of Teknaf upazila. All of them expressed their happiness and gratitude to the government for arranging vaccines for them.