Bangladesh’s government and aid agencies have started vaccinating Rohingya refugees as a virus surge raises health risks in the sprawling, cramped camps where more than one million people who fled Myanmar are sheltering.

The highly transmissible delta variant is driving an infection surge across Bangladesh, with around 20,000 infections and 200 deaths recorded so far in Cox’s Bazar district, the southern region bordering Myanmar where the 34 refugee camps are located.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said a national positivity rate of around 30 per cent indicates the spread of Covid-19 is much higher, especially with cramped conditions and the risks faced by many people living in refugee camps.

The government’s Civil Surgeon’s office in Cox’s Bazar and aid agencies have begun the vaccination campaign across 34 camps alongside Bangladesh’s national vaccination effort. About 500 Bangladesh Red Crescent staff and volunteers have joined the health workers for the campaign in collaboration with the UN refugee agency, according to a statement from the international body.

Read the full AP story here.