A probe committee formed over the controversial incident of administering the Covid vaccine jabs in a councilor's office found the ward councilor and supervisor of the vaccination center guilty and recommended taking action against them. District Civil Surgeon Dr Mir Mobarak Hossain said the committee has recommended taking action against the involved Cumilla City Corporation (CCC) Councilor Nadia Nasrin and supervisor of the center Md Muzibur Rahman Saturday. The investigation report was sent to Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Department Thursday through CCC and the Director General of the Health Directorate was informed about it, Dr Mobarak said. Nadia Nasrin, the councillor representing wards 4, 5 & 6, has been accused of giving Moderna vaccine doses to 125 people without any authorisation from the health authorities. Also read: Bangladesh to get 781,440 AstraZeneca doses from Japan Saturday According to the Civil Surgeon office, on August 9, the vaccination drive was suspended at Harun Government Primary School in ward number 6 owing to some chaos and clashes. Meanwhile councilor Nasrin took some vials of Covid shots and syringes from the center to her office, determined to carry on the vaccination drive, where people were being administered with the first dose of the  Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. On August 12, immediately after some photos of the councilor pushing jabs went viral on social media, a three member probe committee was formed convened by the coordinator of Civil Surgeon office Hasan Mahmud Iqbal. Also read: Over 1.6 million AstraZeneca doses received from Japan The committee was asked to submit the report by August 14, but it was submitted on August 18 after increasing the time. Nadia claims that she is a certified vaccine pusher, and no one who received the jab from her has made any complaints  and it caused no harm to any of the jab receivers.

Thousands of people jammed coronavirus vaccination centers in the Philippine capital, defying social distancing restrictions, after false news spread that unvaccinated residents would be deprived of cash aid or barred from leaving home during a two-week lockdown that started Friday. Officials placed Metropolitan Manila backed under lockdown until Aug. 20, as a new spike in COVID-19 infections that health officials say could be due to the highly contagious delta variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Three other regions, including nearby Laguna province, were also placed under lockdown until Aug. 15. Only authorized workers for essential businesses and residents on medical emergencies or food-buying errands can venture out. An eight-hour curfew was imposed in the capital region starting at 8 p.m. and police checkpoints were set up in city boundaries. Also read: Pizza for shots: UK targets young with vaccine incentives A day before the lockdown, false news spread on social media that unvaccinated residents would either be prohibited from leaving their homes to go to work or deprived of 1,000 pesos ($20) aid. It sent large crowds heading for vaccination centers in the cities of Manila, Las Pinas and Antipolo even without prior registrations. Thousands lined up for several blocks in designated government centers and shopping malls to get the jabs, at times sparking arguments and complaints and snarling traffic. In Manila alone, up to 22,000 people showed up outside vaccination centers before dawn. People descended in groups and arrived in vans from nearby provinces, some “rowdily removing barricades,” city officials said, citing police reports. Many were not registered under Manila’s immunization program. Police were forced to stop vaccinations in at least one of the shopping malls and asked the crowds to return home. Also read: Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery, shows new data Critics partly blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for the confusion. The brash-speaking leader warned Filipinos last week that those who refuse to get vaccinated will not be allowed to leave their homes as a safeguard against the spread of the delta variant. He acknowledged that there was no specific law for such a restriction. For people who refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccine, Duterte said, “well, for all I care, you can die anytime.” “We cannot allow our national immunization program to become superspreader events, especially given the threat posed by the delta variant,” the Department of Health said in a statement following the chaotic scenes. Officials later stressed that even unvaccinated residents could venture out in case of medical emergency. They can also obtain village permission to buy food, medicine or other essential items. They cautioned the public not to fall for fake news on social media and urged them to follow official government announcements. The government’s vaccination campaign, which started in March after repeated delays, has faced vaccine shortages, delivery delays and hesitancy, including from those who prefer Western brands. More than 10.2 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated and 12.2 million others have received their first coronavirus shots. About 70 million people are targeted to be immunized this year, said Carlito Galvez Jr., who oversees the program. The Philippines reported more than 8,100 confirmed COVID-19 infections Thursday, with 196 deaths, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to more than 1.6 million with 28,427 deaths in one of Southeast Asia’s worst outbreaks.

Malaysia shut down a mass vaccination center in its worst-hit state Tuesday after more than 200 medical staff and volunteers tested positive for the coronavirus. The closure was the first of a vaccination center and came as the country’s new confirmed infections breached five figures Tuesday, hitting a record 11,079. Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin stressed that swift government action had contained the cluster at the Ideal Convention Center in central Selangor state. Khairy, who is in charge of the national immunization program, said he ordered the testing of all 453 workers at the center after two volunteers were confirmed to have the virus. Khairy said the 204 whose results were positive had low viral loads, meaning the amount of virus in their bodies was small. Read:Immunized but banned: EU says not all COVID vaccines equal This could be because 88% or 400 of the workers have already been vaccinated, he said. The center was shut for deep sanitization and all its workers are being isolated. Khairy said it will reopen Wednesday with a new team of medical workers. He urged people who were vaccinated at the center since Friday to isolate themselves for 10 days and be tested if they develop symptoms. He declined to say how many people had visited the center since Friday. It has the capacity to deliver up to 6,000 shots a day. “This is the first time we had to shut down a (vaccination center) because of positive cases but we acted fast. By shutting it down today and by taking corrective measures ... we hope the disruption is only one day and that this will not hamper the vaccination process,” Khairy said. Read: FDA adds warning about rare reaction to J&J COVID-19 vaccine He said it would be safe to visit the center starting Wednesday for vaccinations. Khairy said health measures at all other vaccination centers will be tightened, but didn’t order other workers to be tested. Selangor, the country’s richest state bordering Kuala Lumpur, is the worst hit by the pandemic. It accounted for nearly half of Tuesday’s new cases, partly because of increased virus screening amid a tight lockdown. The government has struggled to contain the pandemic, which has worsened despite a lockdown since June 1. Total confirmed cases have soared by 50% since June 1 to 855,949, while deaths have more than doubled to over 6,200. Read: South Africa ramps up vaccine drive, too late for this surge Hospitals especially in Selangor have been overwhelmed, with some patients reportedly being treated on the floor due to a lack of beds, and corpses piling up in mortuaries. Vaccinations have picked up, with 11% of the population now fully inoculated. At least a quarter of the country’s 32 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine. The daily vaccination rate surpassed 420,000 doses on Monday, the national Bernama news agency quoted Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as saying, He expressed confidence that the fast pace of vaccination would help stem the outbreak.