Countrywide Oral Cholera Vaccination Drive Launches Today

Today, Saturday, August 22, marks the formal start of a large Oral Cholera Vaccination Campaign 2026 in 14 high-risk districts of Bangladesh. The government campaign, which targets 5,175,000 people one year of age and older, excluding pregnant women, aims to stop transmission at no cost. Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain and State Minister Dr. M. A. Muhit launched the initiative on Thursday, with over 10.35 million vaccination doses provided by the WHO.

Beneficiaries must get two doses every day between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM to attain full immunity. At specific health facilities and educational establishments, the first dose is administered from August 22 to September 21 and the second from September 26 to October 25.

The campaign encompasses important urban and rural areas that were chosen due to high illness prevalence. Approximately 1,170,000 people in Dhaka South will receive vaccinations at 192 locations in Kamrangirchar, Lalbagh, Gendaria, and Kadamtali. Additionally included are the upazilas of Karimganj, Hossainpur, and Tarail in Kishoreganj, as well as Munshiganj Sadar, Narayanganj Sadar, Brahmanbaria Sadar, Nabinagar, and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Khilkhet, and Tejgaon in Dhaka North.