Measles vaccination drive from Sunday

The government will launch an emergency measles vaccination campaign for children from Sunday amid a sudden surge in cases across the country.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain made the announcement at a press briefing at the Secretariat on Wednesday.

He said children aged between six months and 10 years will be included in the campaign.

“As an emergency measure, the government is borrowing 21.9 million doses of measles vaccine from Gavi, which will be returned later,” he added.

The health minister further said, “Vaccines and syringes will be collected and distributed across the country between Thursday and Friday. Adequate ventilator support is currently available to tackle measles cases, while sufficient hospital beds have been kept ready nationwide.”

To ensure smooth implementation, all leave for health workers has been cancelled, he added.