Children aged between 5 and 11 years (primary school students) will be vaccinated against Covid-19 at their respective educational institutions, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday. "This vaccination program for children will be conducted in the city corporation areas. We will vaccinate the children at schools there," he told reporters after an event marking National Mourning Day at National Cancer Research Institute and Hospital in Mohakhali of the capital. The minister said there are 2.20 crore children aged between 5 and 11 years. And all children including those who are homeless or out-of-school  will be vaccinated. The registration process is underway but those concerned have has been asked to complete soon. The Primary and Mass Education Ministry is working on these issues, he added. The minister said steps will be taken after the ministry informs how many centers will be required for this vaccination programme. Read: Children aged 5-11 get Covid jabs on trial basis "All our doctors and nurses are now enough experienced and well trained. We did not face any untoward situation even in administering 30 crore vaccine doses. We are more careful about the children." On August 11, Bangladesh started administering Covid-19 vaccine to children aged between 5-11 years on an experimental basis. The full-fledged vaccination programme for children will start from August 25, said the Health Minister. “We have already received about 30 lakh doses of vaccine. The US government has assured us to provide the rest of the vaccine through the COVAX facility,” he added. The received vaccines will be administered among the children in a two months gap. The Pfizer vaccine is specially developed for the children which was also approved by the Directorate General of Drug Administration, he added. The United States recently donated over three million pediatric doses of Pfizer vaccines and committed to donating a total of over 40 million (4 crore) pediatric doses.

The United States has donated another 6.2 million (62 lakh) doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh to help expand the vaccination coverage among the youth and hard-to-reach communities. These latest donations via the COVAX initiative bring the total US government vaccine contribution to more than 51 million (5.1 crore) doses, with many millions more scheduled to arrive in the coming months. “We applaud the government of Bangladesh for recently surpassing the milestone of reaching 100 million people with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.  The United States will continue to donate life-saving vaccines and provide support to help Bangladesh reach the goal of fully vaccinating 70% of the country by the middle of 2022,” US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Helen LaFave said on Tuesday. In addition to vaccine donations, the US continues to work closely with Bangladesh to support the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign.  The US has provided training to over 7,000 healthcare providers on proper vaccination management, supported cold-chain storage and transportation, and assisted with targeted campaigns to vaccinate students and hard-to-reach people.  Read: EU imposes restrictive measures on 22 individuals, 4 entities in Myanmar To date, the US has contributed over $121 million in Covid-related development and humanitarian assistance through the US Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  This assistance has saved lives and treated individuals infected with Covid-19, strengthened testing capacity and monitoring, enhanced case management and infection prevention and control practices, and improved supply chain and logistics management systems.  The US support has also protected frontline workers and increased the public’s knowledge on how to better protect themselves from infection. The US has donated $4 billion to support the worldwide COVAX effort, which includes support for ultra-cold chain storage, transportation, and safe handling of Covid-19 vaccines, making the country the world’s largest donor for equitable global corona vaccine access.

A man in India got jabbed with a Covid-19 vaccine at least eight times last year, a health official said. Brahmdeo Mandal, 65, has claimed that he received 11 doses of the vaccine in Bihar state, reports BBC. The retired postman said the jabs had helped him to get rid of aches and pains and "stay healthy". He claimed he had not suffered any adverse effects. Mr Mondal was finally stopped from taking what he claimed was his 12th jab at a camp last week. A probe is underway to find out how Mr Mandal, who lives with his family in Madhepura district, managed to get multiple jabs. READ: NTAC recommends stopping social gatherings to contain Covid-19 "We have already found evidence that he took eight jabs from four places," Amarendra Pratap Shahi, civil surgeon of Madhepura, told the BBC. Since vaccination began on 16 January last year, India has been mainly administering two locally-manufactured vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. The two-dose vaccines have a gap from 12-16 weeks and four to six weeks after the first dose respectively. Vaccination is voluntary, and more than 90,000 centres, mostly state-run, are offering jabs across the country. These include vaccination camps offering walk-in jabs without prior online registration. The beneficiary needs to furnish identity proof - a biometric card, voter ID or driving licence, among 10 documents - to register. The data gathered from the sites is uploaded to India's vaccine portal, CoWin. Early investigations had found that Mr Mandal had managed to take "two jabs in a half hour gap" on the same day and each of these jabs "were registered on the portal". "We are flummoxed how this could happen. There seems to be a portal failure happening. We are also trying to find out whether there was any negligence by people manning the vaccination centres," Mr Shahi said. Public health expert Chandrakant Lahariya told the BBC that the "only way" this can happen is if the vaccination data from the sites is uploaded on the portal after a long lag. "But I still wonder it was not detected after so many jabs over so long a time." READ: WHO: Record weekly jump in COVID-19 cases but fewer deaths Mr Mandal, who kept detailed handwritten notes of the dates, timings and camps, claims he received 11 doses between February and December last year. He told the BBC that he travelled to vaccination camps across Madhepura and even to at least two neighbouring districts - one more than 100km (62 miles) away - to get the jabs. He used different identity cards to register at these sites. Mr Mandal said he had been a "practising quack" in his village before taking up a postman's job and "knew a thing about diseases". "After taking the jabs my body aches and pain disappeared. I used to have knee pain and walked with a stick. Now I don't. I feel fine." Fever, headache, fatigue and pain - mostly mild to moderate - are the most commonly reported side effects after getting a Covid-19 vaccine. Severe allergic reactions are rarer. "You will usually get these reactions after the first and the second dose. Multiple doses of these vaccines should be fairly harmless, as antibodies have already been formed and the vaccines are made up of harmless components," Dr Lahariya said. Some 65% of India's adult population is fully vaccinated and around 91% have got at least one dose. The numbers in Bihar are lower: 36% of the adult population is fully vaccinated and 49% have received at least one dose.

In expanding the Covid-19 vaccination programme the government will start giving the jabs to the city’s slum dwellers from Tuesday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said. The drive will start from Korail slum, home of about three lakh people, the minister told a programme at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons in city’s Mohakhali on Monday. Read: Bangladesh can produce Covid vaccine, let us do it: PM Zahid said that even though Bangladesh has been able to bring the Covid fatality rate under control, the rate of infections is still increasing.  “We want to bring the deaths and cases to zero level,” he said. He said already 5 crore people have received the first dose of vaccine while 3 crore people have been fully vaccinated. Some 15 lakh people are taking the Covid jabs daily on average and the government has a plan to jab 3 crore people this month.

At least 100 students of two government schools in Manikganj will get Covid jabs on Thursday as part of the government's decision to conduct a test run for Covid-19 vaccination for school students. Confirming the information, Md. Lutfar Rahman, the Civil Surgeon of the district said that the  Health Minister Zahid Malek will inaugurate the program at Manikganj Colonel Malek Medical College at 12 noon on Thursday. “Fifty students of Manikganj Government Boys High School and 50 students of SK Government Girls High School will be vaccinated with Pfizer during this time,”he added. Read: Vaccination campaign for school students to begin within a week: DGHS chief They will be monitored  after inoculation and from next week more students will be brought under the vaccination campaign. The district has already received 27,000 Pfizer vaccines for school goers . Earlier on Tuesday, DGHS chief ABM Khurshid Alam informed that a  new campaign to vaccinate school students aged 12 and above will start within a week. Read: WHO okays vaccination of those below 18 in Bangladesh: Health Minister “The inoculation drive for school children between the ages of 12 and 17 will start this week,” said the DG of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) while talking to reporters following an event at the health department. He said 21 centres have been selected at the district and city corporation levels across the country  for this purpose. “The Pfizer vaccine will be used for children,” he said, adding, “School authorities will provide us with the lists of their students. We’ll pass that onto the Surokkha app server afterwards.”

Notwithstanding the supply constraints, Bangladesh's Covid vaccination campaign reached the remote riverine islands of Kurigram on Tuesday morning. The health department, in collaboration with Unicef and the district information office, took this initiative, with an aim to get the vaccination rate up in the district. More than a thousand people got their first Covid shots at the government-run Sardob Primary School, where a vaccination centre has been set up, reports our local correspondent. Read:Vaccination campaign for school students to begin within a week: DGHS chief

Bangladesh launched yet another nationwide mass vaccination drive on Tuesday, aiming to inoculate 75 lakh people in a day to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday. "In the first two hours, women above 50 years and disabled people will get the jabs on priority basis," Health Minister Zahid Maleque told reporters on Sunday. The Covid jabs will be administered from 9am at 6,000 vaccine centres across the country, he said in the morning. Those who had earlier registered for getting the vaccine but did not get it timely will also be given priority during this campaign, the minister said. In Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) area, the special vaccination drive began around 2.30 pm, said Mohamamd Azam, Chief Executive Officer of Zone-2. "But the regular process to administer the jabs has been underway since morning." Read: PM Hasina’s 75th birthday to be celebrated Tuesday

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday sounded hopeful regarding collection of Covid-19 jabs, saying Bangladesh is on track to get 24 crore vaccines either in March or April next year.   "Vaccine doses are coming under the COVAX facility, as gifts and from other sources," the Foreign Minister told reporters on the sidelines of the 'Fifth International Conference on Inclusive Business' organised by the Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DBCCI) in Dhaka. Read: UK OKs vaccines for 12 year olds, aims to avoid lockdowns Dr Momen said that Bangladesh needs 26 crore vaccine doses and some jabs would be produced at home too. "However, there is no update on vaccine cooperation with Russia due to the Covid-19 situation in the country." Dr Momen said that half of the 16 crore people are young, while 2.22 crore people have already been vaccinated. "Despite significant vaccination in Bangladesh, the United Kingdom kept Bangladesh in the red list which is very unfortunate," he said.

The government aims at vaccinating two crore people against Covid by next month, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday. The minister said this at a virtual programme on the occasion of the National Mourning Day, held at Manikganj Government Boys High School ground in Manikganj district. “We have tried our best to keep people well during the pandemic,” he said. READ: Vaccine sharing: Dhaka wants EU to be more generous

The education authorities have issued some guidelines as part of preparations to reopen educational institutions which have remained closed since March last year due to Covid pandemic. The teachers of primary schools have been instructed to return to their work places from Tuesday. Read:SSC, HSC exams either in Nov or Dec next: Education Minister The Primary Education Directorate asked the upazila/thana education officers to inspect the schools their jurisdiction within a week. Besides, it also gave instructions to keep the institutions clean and tidy by taking utmost care to prevent dengue. The primary school authorities were instructed to prepare their wash block accordingly. Besides, the Directorate of Secondary & Higher Education (DSHE) asked the regional directors to take necessary preparations to reopen schools and colleges. According to education ministry sources, most of the teachers and staffers of the educational institutions have been vaccinated. Read:Educational institutions to remain closed until July 31, says govt Besides, sources within the University Grants Commission claimed that around 80 % students of Dhaka University got their Covid jabs. However schools will reopen only after the covid positivity rate comes below 5 %, said a source of the education ministry. In that case, the closure of schools might be extended again. Director of DSHE professor Shahedul Kabir Chowdhury  said the regional directors  were asked to inspect and submit a report on the final preparations on resuming academic activities at educational institutions. Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education Alamgir Md Mansurul Alam said teachers have been told to return to schools. Read:WB approves $191mn credit for Bangladesh’s education sector "We also instructed our officials to visit institutions and submit a report on preparations to reopen. Failure to do so will result in administrative actions," he added. The government shut down educational institutions on March 17, last year after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8. Then the closure was extended several times until August 31 this year.