Shawdesh DEsk:

The government conducted a test run for Covid-19 vaccination on children at the Colonel Malek Medical College Hospital in Manikganj on Thursday.

The vaccination programme started at 12:00pm by administering the Pfizer vaccine to the ninth grader Adnan Azad, a student of Manikganj Government High School.

“A total of 120 students aged between 12 and 17 received Pfizer jabs… we will observe their health condition for seven to 14 days,” Director General of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said.

If the positive report from the vaccinated students is found, a large scale inoculation programme for students in Dhaka city will be launched, he added.

The health ministry sources said the government has decided to vaccinate children aged between 12 and 17 years as the World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed on Pfizer jabs for this age group of kids.

Children will be allowed to complete their registration using birth registration certificate, it added.

Bangladesh set a target to vaccinate the country’s 80 percent population by 2022 under an accelerated inoculation campaign, expecting receipt of required COVID-19 jabs within estimated timeline.