Health authorities have set a target to inoculate over 1.16 lakh city residents in the first phase, amid a devastating second wave of the Covid pandemic. The nationwide mass immunisation drive starts on August 7 and will continue till August 12. People above 18 years are eligible for getting a shot in the arm. Read: Khulna division logs 31 Covid deaths in 24 hours The mass immunisation programme will start in 31 wards of the city and there will be three centres in each ward, said Khulna City Corporation (KCC) health officer Swapan Haldar. "Only Moderna vaccine doses will be given in the city. Some 200 women and men can get the jabs from each centre daily. As per the target, some 1,16,600 people would be covered under the vaccination programme," said Swapan. Besides, centres will be opened in primary schools and the designated places selected by the councillors concerned to mitigate the huge demand for Covid vaccine doses. Read:No movement without vaccine will be allowed after Aug. 11: Minister Two vaccinators and three volunteers will be there at each centre. Already 186 vaccinators have been given training, the health officer said. The mass vaccination drive will begin at 9 am and will continue till 3 pm daily, and all eligible vaccine candidates would be asked  to maintain social distancing norms. Read:Covid vaccination reduces chances of hospitalization, mortality: IEDCR study The authorities will inform people through loudspeakers and all people have been asked to carry their NID card with them for taking vaccine doses. The government is set to launch a nationwide mass vaccination drive from 14,000 vaccine centres from August 7, aimed at giving shots to one crore people in one week.

The overall number of global Covid cases has now surpassed the 199-million mark as the world continues to grapple against the devastating second wave of the pandemic. According to the US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count reached 199,499,792 while the death toll from the virus stood at 4,245,542 on Wednesday morning. So far, 4,142,591,204 vaccine doses have been administered across the world. Read: More than 110M COVID vaccines sent to 60 countries, US says The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 35,231,310 cases. Besides, 614,263 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data. Brazil has registered 1,209 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 558,432, the health ministry said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the total caseload rose to 19,985,817 after 32,316 new cases were detected. 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. The South American country is experiencing a new wave of infections, which has overwhelmed hospitals, said the ministry. India's Covid-19 tally rose to 31,726,507 on Tuesday as 30,549 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry. As many as 422 deaths were recorded since Monday morning, taking the death toll to 425,195. Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it is worsening as the Delta variant of Covid-19 has now been detected in 124 territories worldwide, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Read:Looking for hotels for Covid patients as hospitals struggle: Minister Situation in Bangladesh Amid the merciless onslaught of Covid-19 in Bangladesh, the country recorded 236 more deaths linked to the virus in 24 hours till Tuesday morning. According to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 15,776 more people came out positive with the virus during the period after the test of 55,284 samples. The fresh numbers pushed the country’s death tally to 21,397 on Tuesday, with the caseload mounting to 1,296,093. Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate fell to 28.58 % from Monday's 29.91%, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate. The country has been seeing over 14,300 cases and 230 deaths every day on an average for the last seven days. The recovery rate, however, rose to 86.80%, and the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.65% compared to the same period, said the DGHS. Amid the growing concerns about the highly infectious Delta variant, Dhaka division reported the highest 73 deaths, Chattogram 65, Khulna 32, Rajshahi 21, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh each 12, and Barishal eight deaths. Lockdown extended The government has extended the current lockdown till August 10 amid a surge in the Delta variant of Covid-19 across the country. Read: Bangladesh’s Covid nightmare: 235 more die, 15,776 infected Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque announced the decision of the government while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on Tuesday. The government has made vaccination mandatory for people’s movement from August 11 and a decision has been taken to provide punitive action against those who will fail to get Covid shots in time. The government is set to launch a mass vaccination drive at the village level from 14,000 vaccine centres from August 7, as one crore people will be inoculated in the next one week.

Authorities plan to set up at least nine more Covid vaccination centres in Sylhet as the city grapples with a devastating second wave of the pandemic. Sylhet City Corporation has already sent a proposal to the Health Department in this regard and awaiting an approval from the latter, officials told UNB on Wednesday. Read:Sylhet-3 by-election postponed until Aug 5 The vaccination drive is currently being carried out at Sylhet MAG Osmani Hospital and Divisional Police Lines Hospital in the city. With the proposed centres, the number of vaccination sites in Sylhet will rise to 11. Md Jahidul Islam Sumon, chief health officer of Sylhet City Corporation, said that such an initiative has been taken to bring dynamism in the vaccination drive amid an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases. "The Corporation's proposal could be approved by the Health Department by this week," he said, adding that the training of 40 health workers has already been completed for manning these proposed centres. Read: All will get Covid vaccine shots, reassures PM Hasina The venues of the proposed vaccination centres are Nagar Bhaban, Matrimangal Hospital, Uttar Par Binodini Nagar Health Center of Dhopadighi, Bagbari Nagar Health Center, Akhalia Biresh Chandra Nagar Health Center, Kadamtali Nagar Health Center, Kazitula Surjer Hasi Clinic, Tilagarh Surjer Hasi Clinic and Shahjalal Upashohor Health Center.

The global Covid-19 caseload is inching closer to the 194-million mark, as the second wave of the pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world even amid the  mass inoculations efforts. The total caseload and fatalities stand at 193,639,328 and 4,151,435, respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Read:Countries have responsibility to help scientists find Covid origin: WHO So far, 3,815,101,425 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe. The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 34,427,939 cases. Besides, 610,834 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data. Brazil registered 1,108 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 549,448, the Ministry of Health reported on Saturday. Additionally, another 38,091 new cases were reported in the same 24 hours, bringing the total caseload to 19,670,534. 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. Read: Global Covid fatalities up one-third over past week The third worst-hit country, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,332,159 on Saturday as 39,097 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data. Besides, 546 deaths due to the pandemic since Friday morning took the death toll to 420,016. Situation in Bangladesh Although the country saw well below 200 fatalities for three consecutive days as of Friday, it came close to the grim landmark again as 195 people died of Covid-19 in 24 hours till Saturday morning. Bangladesh recorded 6,780 new cases of infections during the period after testing 20,827 samples. With Covid's Delta variant spreading fast, the country's fatalities had been hovering at nearly 200 for the last two weeks. It reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatality number – 231 – on July 19 and 13,768 infections on the 12th of the month. Read:Bangladesh to go for Covid vaccine coproduction soon: FM There have been 1,153,344 infections and 19,046 coronavirus deaths here since the pandemic started, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate increased to 32.55 % from Friday's 31.05%, when the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate. The death rate increased to 1.65% after remaining static at 1.64%for some days.