The Bangladesh government will vaccinate pregnant and breastfeeding women against COVID-19 amid the pandemic following recommendations by an expert panel.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has chalked out a cautious plan for the inoculation of pregnant women and sent necessary instructions to the centres, reports bdnews24.com.
These women will not be included in the ongoing expanded mass vaccination campaign, DGHS spokesman Robed Amin said on Sunday.
They will have to register online on the Surokkha web platform and take the vaccine at centres with hospital facilities only, where registered doctors will counsel them first.
Sick and comorbid pregnant women and those with a history of allergy to vaccines will not be given COVID-19 shots.
They won’t be given the second dose if they face an Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI).
When Bangladesh rolled out its immunisation drive in February, the health ministry decided to keep pregnant women off the list of recipients as the vaccines had not been tested on the demographic in a clinical setting.
As many as 3.5 million women become pregnant across Bangladesh each year. These women aren’t receiving the vaccine for now, according to the health ministry.
Some countries around the world have started immunising pregnant women against COVID-19, and, as of now, no adverse effects have been reported.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in the UK and Australia’s Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation have suggested that pregnant women should receive the COVID-19 vaccine as it reduces risks.
Also, the World Health Organization said pregnant women should receive the COVID-19 vaccine as the benefits surpass the adverse effects.
After hearing a writ petition seeking an order to give the vaccine to pregnant women, the High Court on Aug 2 kept the matter for the authorities to decide.
The National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group, or NITAG, then said it recommended COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant and breastfeeding women by the end of July.
MASS VACCINATION CONTINUES
The government-administered COVID vaccines to more than 746,248 citizens on Sunday, the second day of the expanded mass inoculation campaign. They include 647,772 who got their first dose and 98,476 who received the second dose.
More than 3 million doses were administered on the first day.
Nearly 25 million citizens registered for the vaccines until Sunday afternoon while 14 million of them received at least the first dose. Around 4.6 million citizens have been fully inoculated.