Women cricketers set to take vaccine today

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has prepared a special arrangement of the corona vaccine for the national women’s cricketers after its national men’s cricketers ahead of their upcoming tour of New Zealand. BCB director and its Media & Publication Committee Chairman Jalal Younus confirmed the news on Saturday, a day before the countrywide holiday for February 21.

Younus informed that the authority of Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH) has been given necessary directives from the authority concerned of the government and the BCB as well. Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH) Director Brigadier General Jamil Ahmed acknowledged the matter of the special arrangement of the vaccination for the women’s cricket. 

According to the KGH director, Jahanara Alam-Salma Khatun will take corona antidote at the Kurmitola General Hospital on Monday (February 22).

Almost all the national team’s cricketers in the New Zealand-bound squad including Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Mithun one after another have already been vaccinated. As of now, the national cricketers of the women’s team will also be vaccinated after Tamim-Mushfiqur and their fellow forces. “Our national women's cricket team will get vaccinated the day after tomorrow [Monday],” Jamil Ahmed said.

On Saturday, a total of eight cricketers of the national team took an antidote for the Covid-19. They are Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Afif Hossain Dhrub, Shoriful Islam, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Hasan Mahmud and Mohammad Mithun.

Citing them sound and healthy, the KGH director said that all of them are sound and healthy after receiving the corona vaccine at the hospital, the apex centre of the country’s corona vaccine rollout from where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina officially inaugurated the immunization on January 26 before the mass vaccination on February 8.

“Eight more cricketers from the national team have been vaccinated here today (Saturday). They are all healthy,” KGH director said.

“And all left the hospital after completing their observation period. Among them were Saifuddin, Mustafiz, Rubel, Afif, Shoriful, Shanto, Al Amin and Mithun. They have taken the vaccine, along with the staff of the cricket board,” he added.

However, BCB media committee chairman Jalal Younus and several other BCB directors took the corona antidote. In addition, the coaching staff, head coach Russell Domingo and bowling coach Ottis Gibson also took the vaccine. Even though the foreign coaches do not have Bangladesh national identity cards, they have been given this vaccine through a special arrangement with the government.