More than 2.8 million people were vaccinated in 59 districts across Bangladesh on the first day of the country’s COVID-19 mass inoculation campaign. Enthusiasm drove up numbers as millions turned up to get the shots.
However, a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services, or DGHS, early on Sunday did not provide information on vaccinations in the Gazipur, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Shariatpur and Sylhet districts.
Among those inoculated on Saturday, 2.78 million people received their first dose of the vaccine, while 53,798 people received the second dose, according to the DGHS.
More than 13 million people have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the country and among them, 4.5 million have also received their second shot.
The nationwide vaccination drive will continue in city corporation areas until Aug 9. Vaccine shots will be given at the union and municipal levels on Aug 8 and 9.
Doses will also be administered in remote areas on Aug 8 and 9, while members of the forcibly displaced Rohingya community over the age of 55 will be inoculated from Aug 10 to 12.
Among the first-shot recipients, 1.51 million are men, while 1.27 million are women.
Of the total vaccines, about 2.5 million are Chinese Sinopharm jabs and 283,721 are Moderna doses from the United States
On Saturday, 81,287 people were vaccinated in the Dhaka metropolitan area, of whom 23,726 are residents of the Dhaka South City Corporation, reports banews24.com.