20,000 children to get MR vaccine in Chattogram

The Chattogram Civil Surgeon’s office is set to launch a special campaign tomorrow to vaccinate approximately 20,000 children, who missed their measles and rubella (MR) doses, across the port city and the district’s 15 upazilas.

The government will also launch an emergency measles vaccination campaign tomorrow across 30 high-burden upazilas in 18 districts, but none of Chattogram’s upazilas was included in the national list.

Health and family planning workers began a rigorous door-to-door survey on Thursday across the city and 15 upazilas to identify children who were missed out ahead of the drive.

Dr Towhidul Anwar, deputy civil surgeon of Chattogram, confirmed that official data indicates around 20,000 children in the region remain unvaccinated.

The special programme will begin tomorrow (Sunday) said Anwar. Vaccines will be available every day, except Fridays, at all permanent vaccination centres in the city and upazilas. "In temporary centres, health workers will administer vaccines according to a fixed schedule,” Anwar told The Daily Star.

He added that the campaign has three primary goals: identifying drop-out children, ensuring they receive the MR vaccine, and providing high-dose Vitamin A supplements to those showing symptoms of measles.

When asked about the high number of unvaccinated children, Chattogram Civil Surgeon Jahangir Alam pointed to administrative hurdles from the previous year.

“Health workers went on work abstention seven to eight times last year, which directly impacted the routine vaccination schedule,” he explained.

However, Dr Alam assured that there is no shortage of vaccines. “We currently have a stock of 109,605 doses of the MR vaccine in the district,” he noted.

In the city area, the drop-out rate is estimated to be between 4% and 5%.

Dr Imam Hossain Rana, chief health officer of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), identified working parents as a key factor.

“Many parents, especially mothers working in readymade garment (RMG) factories, struggle to bring their children to centres during work hours. While we follow up via phone, some children still slip through the cracks due to a lack of consistent monitoring,” Rana said.

Medical experts emphasise that two doses of the MR vaccine are essential for full protection.

Prof Dr AKM Rezaul Karim, former head of the Child Health Department at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), advised that the first dose should be administered at nine months of age, followed by a second dose at 15 months.