Bangladesh to get Covid-19 vaccines next month: Health minister

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said Bangladesh will get Covid-19 vaccines by the end of January 2021. 

He made the statement at the 27th founding anniversary of the Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad (Swachip) on Thursday.

 

Zahid Maleque said, "We are trying to keep the second wave of the novel coronavirus under control. The government along with doctors has taken all preparations in this regard. 

 

"We will get vaccines by the end of January next year. Only obtaining approval for the vaccines is pending now. We will get 30 million vaccines in the first phase. " 

 

Commenting on the government's role in countering the Covid-19 crisis, the health minister said, "The condition of treating Covid-19 was not good in any country in the world when the novel coronavirus started to spread. Initially, there was no personal protective equipment in Bangladesh."

 

"However, now everything has changed. Covid-19 tests are being conducted in 110 labs across the country. Bangladesh is an example of success to the world in controlling the Covid-19 crisis. Bangladesh is in a much better position compared to the US, European countries, and India in keeping the Covid-19 pandemic under control," he added.

 

He further said, "Our telemedicine service is working very well. We have also started antigen test."

 

The health minister also said, "Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad has been working since the independence of the country. They have extended their hands whenever the country needed them. Swachip has also played a strong role in controlling the Covid-19."

 

Commenting that the doctors played the most important role after the prime minister in controlling the pandemic, the minister said, "The process to provide incentives to the doctors is in the final stage. All the government doctors who died from Covid-19 will get incentive. I will also talk to the prime minister about the private practitioners."

 

The minister said, "The wheel of the country's economy is moving because of the doctors' hard work. We have been witnessing positive growth while the GDP of developed countries have decreased."

 

Zahid Maleque said work to set up 10-bed intensive care units in every district is underway and the government will pass projects for three medical universities at the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.

 

Swachip President Professor Dr M Iqbal Arslan presided over the programme where Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, president of Bangladesh Medical Association; Dr Rokeya Sultana, secretary of health and population affairs off Bangladesh Awami League; Professor Dr MA Aziz, general secretary of Swachip; and Professor Dr Kanak Kanti Barua, vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, spoke.