Bangladesh to get 10m additional doses of Covid-19 vaccine this month: Health Minister

Bangladesh will receive one crore (10 million) additional vaccine doses from Covax and China this month, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Monday after the weekly Cabinet meeting, he said that 54 lakh vaccines are expected to enter the country by 15 August.

He said Bangladesh is expected to get a consignment of 34 lakh vacciness under the Covax scheme, a consignment of 10 lakh doses of China's Sinopharm's vaccine, and another consignment of 10 lakh vaccine doses as a gift from China.

Apart from this, the health minister said, the country is also expecting to get 50 lakh vaccine doses it bought from China.

These consignments of Covid-19 vaccines will help the country continue its vaccination programme without a pause, he said.

Meanwhile, complaints regarding complications in vaccination procedures continue to mount, with many saying that they are not getting SMS confirmations on their mobile phones despite having registered for vaccination.

"The message is not sent when there is no vaccine in stock. An SMS is sent subject to availability of the vaccine. More messages will be sent in the coming days when more vaccine doses become available. I can't say at the moment how many vaccines are in hand, but there is quite some," he said.

Maleque said, "The number of vaccination candidates in villages was low before. Older people got fewer doses. There was also some reluctance in getting vaccinated. That reluctance is gone. Interest in vaccines has increased. Vaccination programmes in different wards of the municipalities are ongoing and will continue."

The minister said the government has approved the purchase of another 6 crore doses of vaccine from China's Sinopharm.

Earlier, the government reached an agreement with the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer to buy 1.5 crore doses of the vaccine.

According to Maleque, China will deliver 1-1.5 crore doses in September, 2.3 crore doses in October, and 2.3 crore doses in November. Also, 60 lakh doses of the Pfizer vaccine are due to arrive in September.

He said, "We also hope to get the vaccine that India owes us, but they have not given any confirmed date yet."

So far, more than 2.56 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines have entered the country. 1.4 crore people have received at least one dose, and 45 lakh people have received two vaccine doses.