Hungary, Bolivia want COVID-19 vaccine from Bangladesh: Shahriar

Hungary and Bolivia have sought COVID-19 vaccine from Bangladesh, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shariar Alam has told Parliament.

He divulged the matter while taking part in the thanksgiving motion on President's speech on Sunday.

Shahriar said that Hungary sought 5,000 vaccines from Bangladesh and it will be given.

"Bolivia also sought vaccine from us. The Prime Minister and the Health Ministry will take decision regarding the matter," he said.

The health authorities in Bangladesh confirmed 17 more new coronavirus-related deaths and 363 new cases in the last 24 hours till 8 am on Saturday.

With the fresh ones, the total number of deaths from the deadly virus in the country reached 8,111 while the mortality rate stands at 1.52 percent, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.

It said the Covid-19 infection rate in the country is now 3 percent.

Meanwhile, the new cases pushed up the national tally to 534,770 while the current overall detection rate is 14.69 percent. Until this morning, 479,297 patients (89.63 percent of the total reported cases) have recovered.

So far, 3,639,497 samples have been tested, including 12,084 in the past 24 hours. Bangladesh reported its first Coronavirus cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 last year.

Earlier on Friday, the country recorded 454 coronavirus cases and only seven fatalities.

Vaccination in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched a Covid-19 vaccination drive at Kurmitola General Hospital in the capital on January 27.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque said at the launch that “70 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines are now available in the country. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is the safest one in the world".

For getting a shot, one needs to register on www.surokkha.gov.bd.

For now, the vaccination programme will be limited to five centres in the capital and nationwide inoculation will start in early February.

Mass Vaccination in Bangladesh

A day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Bangladesh, the Health Ministry on Thursday rolled out the inoculation drive at five government hospitals in Dhaka.

At Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Vice-Chancellor Dr Kanak Kanti Barua kicked off the programme in the morning by getting a shot of Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca-developed vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on January 27 inaugurated the much-sought Covid-19 vaccination programme at a city hospital to check the coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh. The national wide vaccination drive will start off on February 7.

Bangladesh first received two million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from India as a gift and then received five more million doses from the Serum Institute of India.