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.

Those who failed to get vaccinated during the 3-day mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19  can still get the 1st dose at permanent centers across the country, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Wednesday. "We have vaccinated a large number of people with the first dose through the campaign. Even though, those who missed the chance to get vaccinated can come to our permanent centers ,” Dr Md Shamsul Haque,  member secretary of Covid-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce Committee, said at the daily briefing on the pandemic situation. Read: Mass vaccination campaign to continue till Feb 28: Minister One can get vaccinated after registration or through showing National Identity Card (NID), he added. Dr Shamsul Haque said, “There are many factories in different areas adjacent to the capital including  Savar, Keraniganj, Narayanganj, Gazipur and many people remained out of the vaccination programme there.

A chaotic situation was created at the city’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital on Saturday as thousands of jab-seekers turned up overwhelming its medical staff. Nearly 4,000 vaccine seekers, including men and women, were seen waiting in queues in the corridors of its first and second floors with the vaccination going on at a snail’s pace. Outraged by the “mismanagement”, the vaccine seekers said the situation turned worse as there was no arrangement for women to stand in any separate queue. Also read: Mega Covid inoculation drive begins in Bangladesh Tired of the long wait in the queue, the irate crowds got involved in quarrels with Ansar personnel and the hospital staff. Some of them were seen trying to push each other to enter the vaccination rooms venting their anger amid chaos. Inside the vaccination rooms, it was found that only two to three nurses were providing shots while another two or three medical staff checking vaccination registration papers. They had to struggle a lot to cope with the situation for lack of manpower. About the situation, Prof Dr Md Shahadat Hossain, Vice Principal of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital said the vaccine centre was originally designated for Bangladeshi expatriates before being selected for the mass vaccination, too. “As a result, the hospital had to face an extra pressure,” he said. Also read: Bangladesh to procure 6 crore Sinopharm vaccine doses: Minister He said the centre sent messages to 1,000 people inviting them to take vaccine shots. “But about 4,000 have come to receive that from this hospital. This hospital has also been dealing with 500 Covid-19 patients besides the vaccination. It’s a huge pressure” He noted that the centre is providing different brands of vaccines like AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Moderna and Pfizer. “So, we’ve to provide the shots very carefully choosing the right brands as some people are coming for the first dose while some are for the second ones,” he added.