More than 10 lakh children in Chattogram are set to be brought under a measles-rubella vaccination campaign starting Monday, with nearly 7.68 lakh targeted across the district as part of an emergency drive to curb rising infections.
The campaign will be carried out across 15 upazilas in the district and 41 wards under the city corporation, according to officials.
Details of the programme were disclosed at a press briefing held at the Civil Surgeon’s Office on Sunday.
Health authorities said a total of 7,67,952 children in the district’s upazilas will be vaccinated, including 1,51,755 school students and 6,16,197 children at the community level.
To support the drive, 4,815 vaccination centres have been set up across 200 unions and 600 wards, with 929 field workers, 524 community health care providers and 371 medical officers assigned to the campaign.
In the Chattogram City Corporation area, 3,00,300 children are targeted for vaccination.
Health officials said 48 permanent teams, 205 temporary teams and 41 mop-up teams will be deployed, along with 14 evening sessions to facilitate working parents.
Although the campaign will begin on Monday, the formal inauguration, originally scheduled at the city corporation general hospital auditorium, has been postponed as the mayor is currently in Dhaka. A new date will be announced later.
Civil Surgeon Jahangir Alam said the campaign will continue until 30 May, covering 11 working days. All children aged between six months and under five years will receive a single dose of the MR vaccine during this period.
He added that children who have already received measles vaccines under routine immunisation programmes will also be included in this special campaign.
Health officials warned that measles and rubella are highly contagious diseases that can lead to serious complications, stressing the need to achieve at least 95 percent vaccination coverage.
They also advised that children who are ill or hospitalised should not be vaccinated until recovery, and no vaccination will be administered without parental consent.
The campaign will run alongside routine immunisation activities, with an online registration system available for parents to obtain vaccination cards.
