Bangladesh
Covid-19 Vaccine Coronavirus vaccine will be produced in the country: Prime Minister
Dhaka, June 3: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that besides collecting coronavirus vaccine, steps have been taken to produce it in the country. To this end, discussions are underway with various countries and manufacturing companies on technology transfer.
She was responding to a question from Begum Monira Sultan, a Member of Parliament for the reserved women's seat in the question and answer session of the National Assembly on Wednesday. The question and answer session was raised in the sitting of the Parliament chaired by Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury.
Earlier, the Prime Minister said the present government has taken various important steps from the very beginning to ensure the safety of the people from the coronavirus pandemic.
Educational institutions were declared closed as nationwide and regional lockdowns were imposed. Besides, the government has taken various incentive measures to save the livelihood and economy of the poor, including providing relief assistance.
Providing safety equipment and financial incentives for frontline combatants of the disease, comprising of health workers, law enforcement and administration. Importing testing kits in a timely manner and setting up labs in different parts of the country.
She said Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world to be able to start immunization activities early to prevent the deadly virus. The government has taken initiative from the very beginning to get the coronavirus vaccine in time.
The steps taken by the government in the collection of vaccines are as follows: Corona vaccination activities are underway with a total of 12 million doses of vaccine collected by the government from the Serum Institute of India and received as a gift from the Government of India.
Till May 18, a total of 96,41,312 doses of vaccine have been given to different people of the country over the age of forty and above.
Sheikh Hasina said the process of collecting vaccines from India is still ongoing. In April, the Indian government imposed a ban on vaccine exports due to the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the country. As a result, the Bangladesh government took the initiative to collect vaccines from China and Russia as alternative sources.
The Cabinet Committee has already approved the purchase of the vaccine from Sinopharm, China. In June, July and August, 5 million vaccines per month can be obtained from China.
Beijing has already sent five lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as gift to the people of Bangladesh. The use of these vaccines has started from May 25.
