Bangladeshi Man Allegedly Gets Three COVID-19 Vaccine Jabs in Single Day

Bangladesh kicked off a nationwide vaccination campaign on 7 February after receiving the Covishield vaccine from India. However, as Delhi halted its vaccine exports, Dhaka had to start using China’s Sinopharm and the US’ Pfizer and Moderna jabs.

Omar Faruque, a Bangladeshi citizen who works in Saudi Arabia, has claimed that he received three consecutive COVID-19 vaccine jabs on the same day earlier this week.

Following Faruque's allegations, the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in Dhaka said that the man has been kept under observation, and a probe has been initiated to verify his claims. A three-member team, including a psychologist, has been looking into Faruque's mental health conditions as well.

"We visited Faruque on Thursday morning. He was not showing the general reaction of fever or cold evident in vaccine recipients. There was no mark of receiving three jabs on his hand either”, BSMMU Director Brig. General Md Najrul Islam told reporters.

As per the rules in the country, health workers at vaccination centres are required to fill out vaccination cards after administering doses. All the vaccines for the coronavirus in Bangladesh are two-shot jabs that are supposed to be administered with a gap of three to six weeks.

In a separate incident, a 38-year-old man, identified as Basharuzzaman, was allegedly administered two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine on the same day in the Kushtia district of Bangladesh. As per reports, Basharuzzaman received the first vaccine dose at 12.30 p.m., but 10 minutes later health workers administered another dose without checking his vaccination card.

Bangladesh has witnessed a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases, mostly in the border districts because of the highly contagious B.1.617 "Delta" variant, which was first detected in India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government recently announced that from 8 August, all adults can register and take their vaccine jabs.