Dhaka:
Bangladesh started vaccinating thousands of Rohingya Muslims on Tuesday in the world’s biggest refugee settlement amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the nation, officials stated.
Aid workers have extended warned of a prospective humanitarian disaster if there is a considerable outbreak in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the border district exactly where more than a million Rohingya who fled a brutal military crackdowns in neighbouring Myanmar have discovered sanctuary.
Around 48,000 Rohingya, aged 55 and above, will be inoculated amongst Tuesday and Thursday with the assistance of the UN agencies, Mahbubur Rahman, the chief overall health official in Cox’s Bazar district, stated.
“This is just the beginning. All adult Rohingya people will be vaccinated in phases,” Rahman told Reuters by phone from one of vaccine centres in the camps.
There has been a current uptick in infections in the camps, with about 20,000 circumstances and 200 deaths recorded amongst refugees due to the fact the pandemic erupted last year.
In contrast, officials in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have told media that there are at present no plans to vaccinate the Rohingya living there.
Bangladesh has been battling an alarming surge in infections and deaths in current weeks, recording more than 1.36 million men and women infected and 22,897 deaths.
“We feel really good. We only hope everyone will get the vaccine,” Sakhina Khatun, 55, stated following she and her 65-year-old husband got vaccinated.
“We are only safe when we are all safe,” Khatun told Reuters.
“People in these camps are living in the shadow of the global vaccine divide. Widespread vaccinations are critical to contain this deadly virus,” Hrusikesh Harichandan, Head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Cox’s Bazar, stated.
“We need united efforts by national agencies and international organisations to help vaccinate all adults in the camps.”
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