Bangladesh on Monday rolled out the second round of its mega Covid vaccination drive without any registration, aiming to achieve the target of vaccinating 90 per cent people of the country. This round of the campaign will continue till March 30, said a notification issued by the Health Ministry. Vaccine seekers will get the second dose from the centers where they had received the first dose during the 1st round of this campaign, according to the notification. Read:Vaccine seekers can get 1st dose at permanent centers: DGHS People aged 18 years or above, who have passed four months after receiving the 2nd dose, will be able to receive the booster shots at the centers even if they have not received an SMS.

The mega inoculation campaign against Covid-19 without any registration has been extended till February 28, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday. The minister said this at a virtual press briefing on the vaccination drive. The minister said, “ We targeted bringing  10 million people under vaccination within 24 hours today but according to information received from different centers the target will exceed as people are still waiting in long queues to get vaccinated. “ “Seeing immense interest among people to get vaccinated, we have decided to extend today’s campaign for two more days ,” he added. The minister urged all authorities concerned to work to make the campaign successful in these two days. Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports below 1000 cases after 52 days The minister assured that there is no reason to panic over not getting the vaccine after today as the campaign will continue to give the first, second and booster doses of the vaccine as before. “There is no shortage of vaccines in the country ,” he added. “The infection rate is currently  4.5 per cent and daily deaths have declined which will decline further. Vaccination has played a role in the decline in cases and deaths.” “So far, 11 crore  people have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and if we succeed in vaccinating 1 crore more today the number will rise to 12 crore,” added the minister.

Though the coronavirus pandemic has eased in Bangladesh, it killed eight more people and infected 166 others in 24 hours till Saturday morning. The daily-case positivity rate declined to 1.25 per cent from Friday’s 1.71 per cent. The fresh cases were detected after testing 13,240 samples, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,862 while the caseload climbed to 1,569,328, according to DGHS. Read: Vaccination campaign for school students to begin on Nov 1 Among the deceased, six were men and two were women. However, the mortality rate rose to 1.78 per cent from Friday’s 1.77 per cent. Also, the recovery rate stood at 97.69 per cent with the recovery of 181 more patients during the period. Mass vaccination Bangladesh on Thursday launched the second phase of its special nationwide mass vaccination drive, aiming to vaccinate 80 lakh people with the second shot in a day. The 9am to 3pm vaccination drive was part of the special campaign that was first unveiled on September 27 to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 75th birthday. On September 28, the first phase of the special nationwide mass vaccination drive was launched.

The number of overall Covid cases has crossed 243 million with  the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease. The global Covid fatality figure and the total case count stand at 4,943,007 and 243,320,811, respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The US has logged 45,427,365 cases and 735,800 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world. Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 21,723,559 cases as of Sunday, while its Covid death toll has risen to 605,457. Read:Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine more than 90% effective in kids India's COVID-19 tally rose to 34,159,562 on Saturday as 16,326 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data. Besides, as many as 666 deaths due to the pandemic since Friday morning took the total death toll to 453,708. Meanwhile, Russia has reported a record high number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths as the country approaches a week of nonworking days aimed at stemming the sharp surge in cases. Russia has reported 37,678 COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the highest daily count, taking the national tally to 8,205,983, the official monitoring and response center said Saturday. The nationwide death toll from the novel coronavirus grew by 1,075, a record high since the pandemic hit the country, to 229,528. Recoveries increased by 26,077 to 7,143,137. Besides, Ukraine’s coronavirus infections and deaths reached all-time highs for a second straight day Friday, in a growing challenge for the country with one of Europe’s lowest shares of vaccinated people. Ukrainian health authorities reported 23,785 new confirmed infections and 614 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to AP. Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 claimed nine more lives and infected another 278 people in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Saturday morning. The daily-case positivity increased slightly to 1.85 per cent from Friday’s 1.36 per cent after a streak of declining trend. Read:US marks 200M COVID-19 shots shared with world With the fresh numbers, the Covid fatalities reached 27,814 while the caseload climbed to 1,567,417 in Bangladesh, according to the Directorate General of the Health services (DGHS). Of the latest deaths, six were men and 3 were women. The new cases were detected after testing 15,042 samples during the 24-hour period. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent compared to the same period. Also, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.67 per cent, with 294 more patients getting cured.

The overall number of global Covid cases has crossed the 239 million-mark even though mass vaccination is underway in many countries of the world. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 239,573,207 while the death tally from the virus reached 4, 881,197 on Friday morning. The US has recorded 44,766, 965 cases to date and more than 721,562 people have died so far from the virus in the country as per the university data. Also read: India's Everest Organics starts making ingredient for Merck's COVID-19 pill Brazil, which has the world's second-highest death toll from COVID-19 behind the United States, saw its death toll exceed 600,000 a week before. The South American country has registered 21,612,237 cases as of Thursday, while its Covid death toll has risen to 602,201. India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,036,687 on Thursday as 17,004new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry. Besides, 378 deaths were reported across the country in the past 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 451,847. Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 claimed 7 more lives in Bangladesh and infected 466 others in 24 hours till Thursday morning. With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,737 in the country while the caseload rose to 15,64,485, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Of the latest deceased, four were women and three men. Also read: Covid-linked deaths in Bangladesh fall to 7 Three of them died in Dhaka division, two in Chattogram and one each in Khulna and Barishal divisions. Bangladesh last logged seven Covid-19 deaths on October 8, the lowest since March 17 this year when the country recorded 11 such deaths. The fresh cases were detected after testing 21,568 samples. With this, the daily-case positivity rate declined slightly to 2.16% percent. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77%. Besides, the recovery rate increased slightly to 97.56 %, with 695 more patients getting cured during the period. So far, 15,26,368 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS added.

The overall number of global Covid cases is fast approaching 138 million amid mass vaccination efforts in different parts of the world. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total Covid case count and fatalities stand at 237,854,917 and 4,851,562, respectively, as of Monday morning. The US has recorded 44,339,747 cases and 713,227 fatalities to date, according to the university data. Read: Covid highlights growing need for mental health support Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India. Brazil has registered 21,575,820 cases so far. The country's Covid death toll has also risen to 601,011 as it has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January. According to AP, Brazil appears intent on returning to pre-pandemic normalcy, even as its death toll tops 600,000, according to official data on Friday from the health ministry. Relief in both COVID-19 cases and deaths have been particularly welcome given experts’ warnings that the delta variant would produce another wave of destruction in the country with the second-most victims. So far, that hasn’t materialized. The country’s average daily death toll has hovered around 500 for a month, down sharply from more than 3,000 in April. Almost 45% of the population is fully vaccinated, and a booster shot is being administered to the elderly. A greater percentage of Brazilians are at least partially vaccinated compared to Americans or Germans, according to Our World in Data, an online research site. India's COVID-19 tally rose to 33,953,475 on Sunday, even as 18,166 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data. The number of new cases recorded in a day are the lowest in the past 214 days, said a statement by the federal health ministry. Besides, as many as 214 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 450,589. Read: Brazil's COVID-19 death toll tops 600,000 Meanwhile, Russia has recorded a new record-high daily death toll from COVID-19, continuing a persistent rise that has brought new records almost daily in October. The national coronavirus task force reported Saturday that 968 people in Russia died of COVID-19 over the past day — about 100 more daily deaths than were recorded in late September. The task force said more than 29,000 new infections also were confirmed in the past day. Authorities blame the steep rise on the country’s low vaccination rate. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said Friday that 47.8 million Russians, or almost 33% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people, had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and 42.4 million, or about 29%, were fully vaccinated, reports AP. The coronavirus task force of Russia reports has reported a total of about 7.8 million cases and 215,453 deaths in the pandemic. Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 14 more lives and infected another 481 in 24 hours till Sunday morning. With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,688 in Bangladesh while the caseload mounted to 1,562,359, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,355 samples. Read: Covid-19: Experts say Bangladesh close to reaching herd immunity threshold With this, the daily-case positivity rate declined slightly to 2.36 percent from Friday’s 2.45 percent, said the DGHS. Bangladesh recorded below 3% daily-positivity rate last on February this year. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent. The recovery rate slightly rose to 97.53 percent with the recovery of 699 more patients during this time. So far, 1,523,833 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS added.

The global Covid death toll has now surpassed 4.7 million as the race for mass vaccination continues. The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 234,239,476 and 4,790,858, respectively, as of Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). So far, 6,261,231,161 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data. The United States reached its latest heartbreaking pandemic milestone Friday, eclipsing 700,000 deaths from Covid-19 just as the surge from the Delta variant is starting to slow down and give overwhelmed hospitals some relief. It took three and a half months for the US. to go from 600,000 to 700,000 deaths, driven by the variant’s rampant spread through unvaccinated Americans. The death toll is larger than the population of Boston, reports AP. Read: Myanmar: Expert calls for “COVID ceasefire”; urges new UN resolution The US has logged 43,617,650 cases and 700,258 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world. India's Covid-19 tally on Friday rose to 33,766,707 as 26,727 new confirmed cases were registered in the past 24 hours nationwide, as per the federal health ministry data. The ministry also reported 277 more deaths from the pandemic during the period, bringing the total death toll to 448,339. Brazil, registered 506 more deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing up the national death toll to 597,255, the health ministry said Friday. A total of 18,578 new infections were detected during the period, raising the total caseload to 21,445,651, the ministry said. Read:DGHS closes 11 private Covid testing booths in Rooppur due to irregularities Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 21 more lives and infected 847 others in 24 hours till Friday morning, showing a slight decrease in the number of fatalities and decrease in cases compared to that of the previous day. On Thursday, the country logged 23 Covid deaths and 860 cases. The new cases till Friday morning were detected after testing 24,670 samples. The daily case positivity rate rose to 3.43 percent from Thursday’s 3.24 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). With this, the daily case positivity rate of Covid-19 in the country remained below 5 percent for the ninth consecutive day. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the daily-case positivity rate remains at 5 percent or below for 14 days, it is considered safe for mass unlocking. The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,531 while the caseload mounted to 15,56,758, said the DGHS. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent. The recovery rate slightly increased to 97.44 percent with the recovery of 960 more patients during the period. So far, 15,16,901 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS said.

The 75th birthday of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League, now in the USA, was celebrated across the country amid a special mass vaccination on Tuesday. Hasina, the eldest among the five children of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, was born at Tungipara in Gopalganj on September 28, 1947. The ruling Awami League and its affiliated organisations celebrated the day by holding various programmes, highlighting her life and achievements. Various programmes like discussions, doa and milad-mahfil, special prayers and photo exhibitions were organised in the capital and elsewhere across the country marking her birthday. More importantly, a nationwide mass vaccination campaign was conducted on the day targeting to inoculate 80 lakh people on the occasion of Hasina's birthday. As part of the AL central programmes, a discussion was held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital in the morning. At the function, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader said Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina was born for the cause of history, and now she herself is history.   Besides, doa and milad-mahfil were arranged at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and all other mosques throughout the country after Zahr prayers. Read: PM Hasina’s 75th birthday to be celebrated Tuesday

The government will administer the 2nd doses of Covid-19 vaccine on three days in all the cities and one day outside the cities under the mass inoculation campaign. The second doses will be given on September 7-9 in the city areas and only on September 7 outside the city areas. The decision came from a videoconference held with PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus in the chair to discuss the countrywide Covid-19 mass vaccination campaign ahead of the administration of the second doses.

The government will start administering the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine under its mass vaccination campaign on Sep 7, according to the chief of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Director General of DGHS Professor Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam disclosed the matter while talking to reporters after an event at the Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD) auditorium on Wednesday. “Administering the 2nd dose won’t be a problem as we’ll have available stocks by then,” he reassured. Read DU asks students to provide their vaccination status Responding to a question whether the jab seekers can walk in to their vaccination centers without SMS from the concerned authorities,  he replied that details on the second dose will be elaborated after a meeting within the high officials of  DGHS and the health ministry. Dr Abul Bashar also claimed that the first phase of the mass vaccination campaign has been a huge success apart from a few isolated incidents. He also informed that around 60 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine will  arrive in the country soon. Read DU asks students to provide their vaccination status He mentioned that they have received 561 ventilators from friendly sources which would soon be dispatched to 300 Covid designated hospitals across the country. Bangladesh on August 7 kicked off its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating as many adults as possible in a short period of time. However, on Monday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque  said that Bangladesh will not conduct any new mass Covid inoculation drive as the supply of vaccine doses is much lower than the demand. Read PM orders speeding up vaccination of industrial workers, families “No more mass inoculation drives will be held in the country now as we do not have adequate vaccines in hand and we’ll not use the word ‘mass’ in future,” he told reporters at the Secretariat.