The government is set to start inoculating 12 to 17-year-olds in Dhaka city with the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, which has been approved by the World Health Organisation for use in children, from today.

The vaccination, which will be done in the presence of doctors, will take place in eight schools, said Shamsul Haque, director of the Directorate General of Health Services.

The eight Dhaka schools are: Ideal School and College in Motijheel, Hurdco International School at Bashundhara, Southpoint School and College at Malibagh, Chittagong Grammar School at Banani, Dhaka Commerce College in Mirpur, Kakoli High School and College in Dhanmondi, South Breeze School in Uttara and Scholastica School in Mirpur.

As many as 25 booths have been set up in each centre, where students of other schools in the vicinity can come to get vaccinated as well, Haque said.

Students will need to bring copies of their birth certificates and vaccine cards to the centre.

The government, which ran a successful trial on 120 children in Manikganj, is aiming to vaccinate 4,000-5,000 children a day for now, according to Haque.

The vaccination programme will be rolled out in other centres in Dhaka as well as the rest of the country. Eventually, 35,000 to 40,000 school children would get the jabs a day, he added.

A list containing names of more than 4 lakh students aged 12-17 years enrolled at schools in Dhaka has been sent to the ICT Division to arrange for registration, said Golam Md Golam Faruk, director-general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE).

There are about 6.5 lakh students of 12-17 years enrolled at schools in Dhaka.

Earlier DSHE sought information of students of 12-17 years, including their birth certificate number, from all schools and colleges of Dhaka. It also has asked all schools across the country to submit similar information for vaccine registration.

Education Minister Dipu Moni and Health Minister Zahid Maleque will inaugurate the vaccination programme at 9:30 am today.

6 DIED OF COVID 19

Meanwhile, the health directorate reported six people died of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8:00 am yesterday, taking the death toll to 27,868 people in Bangladesh.

The death rate stands at 1.78 percent.

In the 24 hours, a total of 211 people tested positive for the viral infection, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 15,69,539.

Yesterday, a total of 17,226 samples were tested while the positivity rate was 1.22 percent.

Of the deceased yesterday, two were male and four were female.