“There is a lack of publicity and awareness about the vaccine. People are skeptical,” Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed, a public health expert and former director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under the DGHS, told Prothom Alo.
“Previously, babies as young as nine months old would receive the vaccine, but now this age has been reduced to six months. Mothers may question whether it could harm their babies. Health workers needed to communicate face-to-face with mothers to address these concerns. This did not happen,” she said.
The vaccination drive began on April 5 in 30 high-risk upazilas of 18 districts.
On 12 April, vaccination began in Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Mymensingh and Barishal City Corporation areas. From April 20, vaccination expanded to urban centers and cities across the country. The campaign will run till May 20.
The campaign aims to vaccinate 18,016,914 children. On Sunday night, DGHS said that it has achieved 99 percent of its target.
Officials attempted to identify the number of children left out of the campaign through the Rapid Convenience Monitoring (RCM) method.
The findings showed that some children in both urban and rural areas had not received the measles vaccine.