112 Manikganj students vaccinated under trial run

Some 112 students of four government schools in Manikganj were vaccinated on Thursday.

Manikganj, Oct 14 :  Some 112  students of four government schools in Manikganj were vaccinated on Thursday with Pfizer jabs as part of a test run of the government for vaccinating school students against Covid-19.

All the vaccinated students were of the 12-17 age group.

Sixty of the students were from Manikganj Government Boys High School, 32 from  SK Government Girls High School, 10 from Zahid Maleque High School and another 10 from Bangabandhu High School.

Although 120 students were supposed to be vaccinated on the day the health authorities decided not to vaccinate eight of them as they were suffering from various illnesses.

Inaugurating the trial run at 12 pm at Manikganj Colonel Malek Medical College, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said, “This vaccine (Pfizer) is safe and has been given to school kids in Europe and America as well.”

“We want our children to be safe, too. Soon, school children across the country will be brought under the vaccination drive,” he said.

Mobashbir Rahman Rafid, a 10th grader of Manikganj Government Boys High School, is the first child to receive Covid shot in Bangladesh.

“I was a little bit scared at first. But I felt no discomfort after receiving the vaccine. I’m over the moon to be the first child to be vaccinated,” he said.

Meanwhile, Taslima Akhter, another 10th grader of   Zahid Maleque High School, was the first schoolgirl to be vaccinated in the country.

“Since school reopened, I have been suffering from a sense of fear to join classes because of Covid. Now I can attend classes without fear,” she said.

Principal of Colonel Malek Medical College and Hospital Dr Md Zakir Hossain said they are yet to receive any complaint from the vaccinated children.

On January 27, Prime Minister Hasina launched the Covid-19 vaccination programme at Kurmitola General Hospital through a videoconference.

The government rolled out a countrywide mass Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7 vaccinating people aged 55 and above in the first phase.

On July 29, the government lowered the minimum age limit for taking Covid-19 jabs to 25 from 30 years in a bid to give a boost to the lagging vaccination rates in the country, reports UNB.