Even as the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) called upon the Government, to bring the garment workers under the purview of the coronavirus vaccination programme on priority basis, a recent survey has found only a small percentage of the apparel workers have been vaccinated so far against the dreaded virus.
As per the joint survey carried out by the Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) and the Economic Modeling by South Asian Network (SANEM) — the organisations interviewed a pool of 1,285 workers over phone on 23 April 2021, from Narayanganj, Chittagong, Dhaka city, Savar and Gazipur —only 2 per cent of garment workers were able to get the coronavirus vaccines even if around 69 per cent of workers said they were willing to get vaccinated if they were eligible to get the same.
As per reports, 36 per cent of the respondents maintained that they were eligible for the vaccination on being asked whether they think they are eligible to get vaccinated or not, 34 per cent were unaware if they were eligible while 28 per cent said they were not eligible even if more than 60 per cent of those who were ineligible, or did not know if they were eligible, wanted to get vaccinated; and three-quarter of those eligible expressed the desire to get vaccinated.