Shawdesh Desk:

The government has included pregnant and lactating women in the nationwide Covid-19 inoculation programme amid a worrying rise in Covid-19 hospital admissions across the country.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued a notice regarding this Sunday.

Although the pregnant women are now eligible for Covid-19 vaccination, they must follow some instructions before getting jabbed, according to the DGHS.

They have to take the Covid shots from government vaccination centres with medical facilities after getting counselling from a registered physician there.

Mothers-to-be who are unwell, suffering from chronic illness or have a history of vaccine allergy will not be allowed to take the jabs.

Also, they cannot take the second dose of vaccine if an AFI case is detected among them after taking the first shot.

And expectant mums will have to provide all health information to the registered doctor before getting jabbed.

Also, doses cannot be administered without the signed approval of a guardian or vaccine recipient and counselling a physician.

However, the lactating mothers can take a Covid shot like everyone else.

Earlier, the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group recommended the government for providing Covid vaccine to both mums-to-be and lactating mothers.

Expectant mums and lactating mothers were excluded from the Covid mass vaccination programme in Bangladesh from the beginning.

Earlier this year, when Covid vaccination was initiated in countries across the world mums-to-be were excluded from the programme due to a lack of safety information.

Now the UK Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend Covid vaccines for expectant mums and lactating women.

Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalisations, and death and with the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever, according to the CDC.

“Pregnant and recently pregnant people are more likely to get severely ill with Covid-19 compared with non-pregnant people. If you are pregnant, you can receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Getting a Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy can protect you from a severe illness Covid-19,” it added.