Students aged 18 years and above can now sign up for Covid vaccine

Students aged 18 years and above can now register to get Covid-19 jabs as the government looks to reopen education institutions in phases.

A new option has been added for their registration in the identity verification section of Surokkha, the government platform to sign up for vaccination.

Confirming the matter, Dr Mijanur Rahman, director of the Management Information System of the health directorate, said the option had been functional since Thursday.

The vaccination cut-off age has only been lowered for students — the age limit for everyone else is still 25 years.

One must mention “student” as their occupation while signing up to be eligible for Covid vaccine, Dr Rahman, also a DGHS line director (HIS and e-Health), said, adding: “Otherwise they have to be registered through their respective educational institutions.” 

All educational institutions in Bangladesh have been closed since March 17, 2020 following the outbreak of Covid.

Also Read - Educational institutions may reopen in September

The government has since extended the closure several times with the pandemic showing no signs of letting up.

All offices and commercial institutes were allowed to reopen on August 11 following a long countrywide lockdown, but the educational institutes are to remain shut till August 31, unless the closure is extended again.

Around 33.9 million people have registered to be vaccinated against Covid in Bangladesh as of August 19.

The health authorities have administered the first dose of Covid vaccine to some 16.1 million people; of them, around 6.25 million people have received the second dose as well.