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Amid growing concerns over the fresh spread of Covid-19, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has advised certain high-risk groups to receive vaccination.
These include individuals with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, and those who are likely to come into close contact with Covid-19 patients, reports bdnews24.com.
On Wednesday, DGHS Director General Md Abu Jafor said the agency currently has a stock of 1.71 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, which will be used in the imminent vaccination campaign.
“Those who are unvaccinated and are in regular contact with others, including immunocompromised individuals and pregnant women, should take the vaccine,” he said.
“Alongside them, those who have previously been vaccinated but are over 60 years old, have comorbidities, or are at high risk due to low immunity, should receive a booster dose if six months have passed since their last dose.”
Asked if previously vaccinated individuals can still receive the vaccine at designated centres, Jafor said: “Covid-19 vaccination is still in progress. Anyone eligible can receive it by visiting the designated centres.”
Addressing concerns about the efficacy of the current vaccine stock, Halimur Rashid, director of the DGHS Communicable Disease Control segment, referred to guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
He said while the most recent 2024–2025 vaccines specifically target the omicron variant, the vaccines available in Bangladesh remain effective.
“Our vaccines are from earlier batches,” Rashid said. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the latest vaccines are not available in a country, previous ones can still help reduce the severity of illness.
“WHO recommends using whatever vaccines are available. We haven’t yet initiated new procurement, but we plan to do so soon.”
On the availability of Covid-19 testing at hospitals, Jafor noted that the general mass does not require it.
“Only patients showing symptoms or specific indicators should be tested. We will make testing available at all hospitals where needed,” he said.
The DGHS plans to distribute RT-PCR kits to hospitals starting Thursday.
“We have a distribution list and know exactly how many kits each hospital needs. There’s been a slight delay due to the Eid holidays,” he added.
He also said the health directorate has received 28,000 rapid test kits and expects an additional 10,000 RT-PCR kits to arrive on Wednesday for distribution across public hospitals over the following few days.
On Wednesday, Abu Hussain Md Moinul Ahsan, DGHS director of hospitals and clinics, said all district-level government hospitals are preparing Covid-dedicated beds in light of the recent uptick of cases.
Several hospitals, including the DNCC Dedicated Covid-19 Hospital, Mugda Medical College and Hospital, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, and Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, have already set up facilities to treat Covid-19 patients.
“We’re working diligently, and hope that by Saturday, all district-level public hospitals will have beds ready—whether or not there are patients at the moment.
“We want to ensure that no patient is ever turned away from a government hospital without receiving treatment. That’s the assurance we want to give the public,” he said.
This year, Bangladesh has detected 215 Covid-19 cases—57 of them within the first 10 days of June. On Tuesday alone, 13 new infections were recorded over a span of 24 hours.
The first virus-caused fatality in one and a half years was registered on Thursday.
Since the initial outbreak in 2020, over 15.7 million samples have been tested in Bangladesh, resulting in more than 2.05 million confirmed cases and 29,500 deaths.
The virus claimed 7,559 lives in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. In 2021, the death toll peaked at 20,513. It dropped to 1,368 in 2022 and 37 in 2023, while no deaths were reported in 2024.
Following the surge of new sub-variants in India and neighbouring countries—as well as fears of global spread—the DGHS has issued renewed health advisories.
On Monday, the Communicable Disease Control (CDC) under the DGHS advised against non-essential travel to India and other affected countries. It also instructed authorities to ramp up health screening and monitoring at all land and air entry points.