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Covid protocols go for a toss at Sonahat Land Port
As the Indian variant of Covid-19 spreads rapidly in the neighbouring country and beyond, so is panic and fear among people in Bangladesh.
For instance, local residents as well as scores of workers at Sonahat Land Port in Kurigram are living in the face of fear, with hundreds of Indian truckers entering Bangladesh through the border daily.
The locals and port workers fear a potential transmission of the highly contagious Covid variant as these truckers hardly adhere to health safety norms -- neither they wear masks nor maintain social distancing.
A reality check by UNB on Tuesday revealed that hundreds of goods-laden trucks from India were waiting on the Bangladesh side of the land port in Bhurungamari upazila for getting their documents verified.
Also read: 8 Indian variant cases identified in Jashore
Doarabazar-Laxmipur road: Like negotiating a landmine
The road from Upazila Sadar to Laxmipur in Doarabazar upazila of Sunamganj is now a curse. This road is used by more than one lakh people from 80 villages of Laxmipur, Surma and Bogla unions of the upazila. This road is the only hope of these three unions to communicate with Upazila Sadar, District Sadar and Divisional Town. Besides, people of Banglabazar Union also use this road.
This road built by the Local Government Engineering Department has now become a choke point for commuters due to lack of repairs. The whole road is now impassable as it has been in dilapidated condition for years.
According to the locals living alongside the road, normal traffic is a long way off- now it has become risky to walk on the road.
Read Illegal sand mining: Sunamganj's biggest challenge
Mamun Mia, a student at Doarabazar Government Degree College, said, “Our studies are being disrupted due to the dilapidated road. I have to spend extra car rental and time to go to college."
Pedestrians and passengers are constantly suffering while digging holes, mud and waterlogging all over the road. Accidents take place more or less every day. So, the Doarbazar-Laxmipur road is now a source of panic for pedestrians and passengers.
Sick people, medical treatment recipients, pregnant women and the elderly are frightened when they hear the name of this road. Everywhere you look on the road, you only see the dilapidated condition.
Also read: Stop movement of unregistered, unfit vehicles during Eid: SCRF
Mohammad Omar Gani, a resident of Baktarpur village in Laxmipur union, said, “We can't explain how much we have been suffering for years in traveling to the upazila headquarters. We are the residents of the enclave. Suffering does not leave us behind."
Retired engineer Bir Muktijoddha Abdul Halim Bir Pratik, a resident of Tengratila village in Surma Union, said, “The condition of the road is very critical. We have to travel at risk. I wish the top administration and the people's representatives the best of luck in repairing the road as soon as possible."
In the Surma Union part of the road in upazila up to Sharifpur, Shantipur, Girishnagar, Mohabbatpur, Rubber Dam area is full of potholes and mud. There are piles of rods, bricks and cement scattered in dangerous condition. There is a risk of a major accident at any time. In many parts of the road, small and big broken holes have been created and waterlogging has taken place due to accumulation of dirty water. Pedestrians are constantly suffering due to mud and water.
Also read: Thousands suffer as road turns unfit within a year of renovation in Sunamganj
Amirul Haque, joint convener of Upazila Awami League and chairman of Laxmipur Union Parishad, said, "I use this road myself. The whole road is impassable. I understand the suffering of the people of my greater Ladhipur Union while traveling to the Upazila Sadar by this road. Contacting the LGED office again and again, I could not find any visible remedy. LGED has been urging the authorities but LGED has not taken any initiative to repair the road yet. We demand immediate repair of the public road."
The whole road up to Noapara, Laxmipur, Leyakatganj-West Banglabazar area of Laxmipur Union is covered with mud. As there is no alternative road, pedestrians and passengers have been seen walking on the mud at risk. Not only pedestrians and passengers, but also drivers are constantly facing various problems while driving at risk. Many CNG drivers were seen pushing their vehicles as they got stuck in ditches, mud and waterlogging.
Read KOICA takes project on road safety in Bangladesh through ITS
CNG drivers Abdul Wadud and Swapan Mia said, "I drive on this road at risk in pursuit of livelihood. As the whole road is dilapidated, after a while the auto rickshaw gets stuck into the mud. Most of the money I earn by driving all day is spent on car repairs. There is no one to see the misery of our roads!"
Abdul Awal, vice-president of the central committee of the Jatiya Krishak Party, a resident of Shantipur village in the same union, said, "Greater Laxmipur union is a remote area as a remote upazila. Due to floods and heavy rains, it is not possible to maintain low quality roads here. This road should be rebuilt as soon as possible as the first step in the development of communication in remote areas."
Debatosh Paul, executive engineer of LGED in Doarabazar upazila, said about 26 km of road from Doarabazar to Laxmipur is under LGED. "Hopefully the project will pass soon. But it will take time because of the pandemic," he added.
Read BD Finance signs MoU with US-based SIG for infrastructure projects
Govt. set to expand social safety allowances in upcoming budget
The government is set to expand the social safety net in the upcoming budget as the Covid-19 has pushed at least 2.5 crore people below the poverty line.
In the forefront of the beneficiaries are the elderly persons, women left by husbands and widows, said sources at the finance ministry and national board of revenue.
Read: Prioritise saving lives, tackling inequality in the budget: CPD
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will place the national budget for 2021-22 in Parliament on June 3.
The budget will set aside Tk. 3420 crore for elderly persons, up from Tk2940 crore in the current fiscal. Some 97 lakh persons will get the benefits, an increase of eight lakh from the running year. Similarly, allowances are being increased for widows and women left by husbands.
Read: Parliament gets Tk 336.14cr budget for next fiscal year
Their number will be 24.75 The allocation for this purpose would be Tk 1237.50 crore from the existing Tk 1230 crore.
Some 18 lakh insolvent disabled, 7.70 lakh poor pregnant women and 2.75 lakh poor lactating mothers will be put under the social safety net programme, said the sources.Transport workers who are affected by the pandemic will be included in the social safety net programme.
An amount of Tk 2500 crore has been earmarked for the affected transport workers.
Read: Sources: Agriculture to get increased subsidy in the upcoming national budget
Social welfare ministry sources said other social safety net programmes would be expanded and the ministry is working on it.
In the new budget the number of transgender, bede and underprivileged beneficiaries will be increased to 95,000.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already provided financial assistance to some 36 lakh families who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and recent natural disasters.
Read: Prioritise health, education, agriculture in next budget: BNP
The families include 35 lakh low-income ones engaged in different occupations including affected transport workers. The remaining one lakh are farmers affected by recent natural disasters.Each of the 35 lakh families got Tk 2,500, while Tk 5,000 was given to each of one lakh farmer families.
The amount of allowance for the valiant freedom fighters of the country will also be increased.
The prime minister has already announced the allowance will be raised from Tk 12,000 to Tk 20,000 for the general category.
Read Freedom Fighters' allowance to rise by two-thirds from next fiscal
The contenders to be the next VC of Rajshahi University
Rajshahi University outgoing vice-chancellor Professor M Abdus Sobhan’s term expired on May 6. Pro-vice-chancellor Professor Ananda Kumar Saha on the same day took charge as acting VC by an order from the Education Ministry.
Everyone is concerned as to who would be the next vice-chancellor of the university. The outgoing VC was criticized for allegations of some corrupt activities, and so teachers and students of the university are expecting that an honest teacher will take charge as the next vice-chancellor.
According to the Rajshahi University Ordinance 11(1) section, the vice-chancellor shall be appointed by the chancellor for a period of four years from a panel of three persons to be nominated by the Senate on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Chancellor and shall be eligible for reappointment for a further period of four years.
Desco to get smart with pre-paid meters
Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) is going smart with the pre-paid meters for its consumers, the chief of the company said.
Work on its mega plan to install the smart pre-paid meters is under way and the utility hopes to complete the system in next two years, said Kauser Ameer Ali, managing director of Desco. He said the company has already floated a tender and is now in the process to award a contract to a private company to install necessary hardware and software upgrading the system. “We’re hopeful to start providing the smart pre-paid meters among the consumers from next year....And it will be completed by June 2023”, said Kausar.
Read No load shedding in DPDC area this summer: Bikash DewanDesco has been operating as a distribution company since 1998 mainly in the capital city’s north-western and eastern parts, including Mirpur, Uttara, Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Badda and also part of Gazipur having a consumer base of about 1.053 million.The upcoming Purbachal Model Town will also be under its operational area.Desco consumers currently use about 1070 MW of electricity while areas under Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), another distribution entity, consumes about 1,650 MW. Dhaka city’s south-western, central and eastern parts and also a part of Narayanganj district is under the DPDC.At present, 535,085 Desco consumers in parts of Mirpur, Uttara and Tongi are using pre-paid meters.
Read Desco to provide smart prepaid meters to all customers by 2023
Desco chief Kauser explained the difference between the pre-paid and smart pre-paid meters.He said that in the existing pre-paid meter system, a consumer has to go to a vending station to recharge the pre-paid card to get uninterrupted service.But in the smart pre-paid system, consumers don’t need to go to any vending station to recharge their cards, he told UNB.Rather, they can re-charge their cards from any place in Bangladesh and even from abroad, by using their smart mobile phones and other digital gadgets, he added.Kausar said that under the new initiative, the existing pre-paid meters will be replaced with the smart pre-paid ones while the non-pre-paid consumers will get new smart pre-paid meters.He said the new smart-prepaid system will have huge facilities for the consumers and they can fine tune their consumption patterns and save money.
Read Also: Deal signed to install 5 lakh smart pre-paid electricity meters in northern districts“They can control their electricity consumption from the remote locations”, he added.
Many Desco consumers welcomed the new move.
“We have to spend long hours in queue in front of vending station to get our pre-paid card recharged…this bothers me a lot”, said Shehed Ali, a Desco consumer of Uttarakhan area in Uttara,
Another client Shimul Mahmud said he looks forward to the new system as it will be consumer-friendly.
Read Also: Rajshahi city dwellers start getting smart pre-paid electricity meters
Desco officials said mainly the residential and small-scale commercial consumers which have maximum 50 kilowatt consumption and known as low-tension (LT) consumers will receive the smart prepaid meters.Nearly 40,000 high-tension (HT) consumers, mainly large commercial and industrial structures, will not receive the new smart meters, they said.
Sundarbans bears the brunt of Yaas while shielding rest of the country
The Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest of which more than half lies in Bangladesh, once again acted as a natural barrier protecting the country from the worst effects of Cyclone Yaas, as it has done countless times before. Yet this protection comes at a cost, as the forest ecosystem must bear heavy damage each time to both its flora and fauna.
At least 6 deer, alive and dead, were recovered until Thursday as they came floating along the flood waters from the forest, a day after rthe cyclone made landfall. For two days, the entire mangrove remained inundated in saline water pushed in by tidal waves that reached over 5-feet during the high tide.
Read Yaas leaves behind Tk 60 crore worth of damage, losses in Khulna
Experts fear for the rich biodiversity of the forest as salt water may remain for quite some time before being absorbed into the soil, turning the land saline too.
“Through a long adaptive process wildlife has survived in Sundarbans but the biodiversity will be affected as their food and habitats have been destroyed,” said Dr. Md Anwarul Islam, professor of the Zoology Department at Dhaka University.
“Remaining submerged in saline water can hinder reproduction as well as other diseases to the animals,” he said.
Also read: Cyclone Yaas disrupts normal life in 23 chars of Bhola
The southwestern mangrove forest formed on the Bay of Bengal has been working as a buffer between the coastal population and many catastrophic cyclones that ravage the region every year. Cyclones Aila, Bulbul, Sidr, Amphan and most recently Yaas all at first rampaged the Sundarbans and then weakened as they reached further into Bangladesh.
Freedom Fighters' allowance to rise by two-thirds from next fiscal
The allowance for the valiant Freedom Fighters of the country is going to see a significant jump of 66.66% in the coming 2021-22 fiscal.
However the budget allocation for the purpose would not see a massive rise as the number of Freedom Fighters fell by 23.37% in the new published partial list of the Liberation War Affairs Ministry.
The total allocation for the purpose in 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscals was Tk 3385.05 crore each.
The allocation was Tk 3200 crore and Tk 2996.15 crore in 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscals respectively.
Read Obaidul calls for ending divisions between freedom fighters
According to the available data, the allocation was Tk 2196.06 crore for around 185,000 Freedom Fighters in 2016-17 fiscal whereas the amount was Tk 1920 crore for 180,00 freedom Fighters in 2015-16 fiscal.
For 200,000 Freedom Fighters the amount was Tk 1200 crore in 2014-15 fiscal while Tk 700 in 2013-14 fiscal.
The number of government listed Freedom Fighters to be provided allowances was 150,000 in 2012-13, 2011-12 and 2010-11 fiscals. In these thee fiscals the allocated money was Tk 360 crore each.
The number in 2009-10 fiscal was 125,000 where the government had to allocate Tk Tk 225 crore and in 2008-09 fiscal the allocation was Tk 108 crore for 100,000 Freedom Fighrs.
READ: Govt to build 30,000 houses for insolvent freedom fighters
The Prime Minister in February of this year had made an announcement while inaugurating the transfer of monthly allowance to freedom fighters and their families through electronic fund transfer system of the Bangladesh Bank that the allowances of the Freedom Fighters who are getting Tk 12,000 per month would be Tk 20,000 from the next fiscal.
At that time, the number of valiant Freedom Fighters who were in the government list was 205,206.Of them, the families of martyred war heroes are getting Tk 30,000 a month, while that of war-wounded ones are getting Tk 25,000.
The families of the seven Bir Shresthas, the highest gallantry award, are receiving Tk 35,000 while recipients of Bir Uttams get Tk 25,000, Bir Bikram Tk 20,000, and Bir Pratik Tk 15,000. The rest freedom fighters get Tk 12,000.
READ: List of 1,47,537 freedom fighters published
Wounded freedom fighters get free medical care and those without homes get housing.
Freedom fighters also get five festival bonuses from the government.
But in March 25, Liberation War Affairs published a partial list of Freedom Fighters containing 147,537 names while in May 9 ithas published the final list (second part) of the names of the heroic freedom fighters (FFs) including an additional 6,988 names.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque while publishing the partial list told that the final list of freedom fighters will be published by June 30 after further scrutiny of the list of the freedom fighters who are getting allowances.
According to the sources in the Liberation War Affairs Ministry, the officials of the Ministry are working to prepare the list for finalising the number of the lists of Freedom Fighters, who will get the allowances.
"Soon the number and the total money will be sent to the Finance Ministry," a senior official said.
Read 2,000 students receive ‘Muktijoddha Scholarship’
Residents of Jashore village along 'Indiapara' worried about spread of new variant
The residents of Doulatpur village along Chougachcha upazila in Jashore district are passing their days in fear of the new strain of Indian Covid-19 variant as they are living along the border area close to 'Indiapara'.
Sources said, a road from India has entered into the Doulatpur village along its south-eastern side and a number of Indian residents are living in a part of the village, which is known as Indiapara.
The residents of Daulatpur village have a close contact with the people of Indiapara and there is no boundary among them.
Some 80-85 families of Indian nationals are living on that portion adjacent to the Bangladesh border. The total population of Indiapara is approximately 150.
The residents of Indiapara are moving freely in the Bangladesh part of Daulatpur village dodging the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB).
Also read Coronavirus: 'Double mutant' Covid variant found in India
The residents of Indiapara commute to Bagda Bazar and other parts of India everyday and then come home.
As the Indian variant of the Coronavirus has grown into a major concern around the world, panic gripped the inhabitants of the Doulatpur village due to free movement of the residents of Indiapara.
The local people have demanded to strengthen the border security along the border village of Indiapara.
During a recent visit to the Daulatpur village, this UNB correspondent found that the people of Indiapara are moving freely in Bangladesh territory under the nose of border guards.
An 85-year-old man of Indiapara, identified as Abul Kashem, was seen riding on a bicycle without face cover on the road in Bangladesh.
Also Read New variant may be behind Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts
Abul said “I have been living in Indiapara for the last several years and I have visited Badga Bazar in India for shopping. But now we have refrained from going to Bagda Bazar due to Covid-19 situation. I have many relatives in Bangladesh and I used to move in Bangladesh from my childhood like this.”
Tariqul Islam, a resident of Doulatpur, said “We have heard that Covid-19 has grappled the Bagda Bazar and other villages along the border. As a result, the Covid-19 may spread among the residents of Indiapara.”
Abdul Karim, another resident of Andulia village in Chougachcha upazila, said “I have a land along the village of Doulatpur and Indiapara and I visited my land everyday for work purpose and we are now concern about the movement of the residents of Indiapara as the Covid-19 may spread to our country.”
Tota Mia, a resident of Doulatpur village and chairman of Sukhpukuria union, said “There is a small village of India inside our country and we are concerned about the Indian variant. The residents of Indiapara have been asked to refrain from going other areas adjacent to Bangladesh.”
Read 10-year-old India returnee tests positive for Covid in Jashore
However, the residents of Daulatpur also asked to refrain from making any contact with the people in India, he said.
Subedar Shahinur Rahman of BGB-49 Andulia camp, said “We kept a vigil about the new strain of Covid-19 in India and we have strengthened our security to check movement of any people coming from Indiapara.”
On May 17, the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) announced that the Indian variant was found in six Covid-19 patients in Bangladesh.
Two cases of the Indian Covid-19 variant were detected at the Genome Centre of Jessore University of Science and Technology for the first time on May 8.
Read Woman kept under quarantine dies in Jashore
Earlier that day, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed the first case of Indian coronavirus variant in Bangladesh.
The Indian strain of the virus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka and it has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
India’s crematoriums and burial grounds are being overwhelmed by the devastating new surge of infections tearing through the country with terrifying speed, depleting the supply of life-saving oxygen to critical levels and leaving patients to die while waiting in line to see doctors, reports AP from New Delhi.
According to the World Health Organisation, the Indian COVID variant has already spread to 60 countries across the world.
Read 7 who fled Covid facility in Jashore arrested, later released on bail
A new version of Mehidy in making
He was a complete allrounder during his age-level cricket. He used to bat at number four and amassed ample runs. He used to bowl 10 overs in 50-over games regularly and scalped many wickets. His bowling was more effective than his batting. Still, the 23-year-old allrounder never was a fan of the idea that he could break into the world’s top bowlers.
And yet, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is now the number two ODI bowler in the world as per the latest ranking updates by the International Cricket Council published on May 26. In his immediate reaction, Mehidy said: “Praise be to Allah. I’m excited to know that I’m now the number two ODI bowler in the world, but I never thought that I could reach this height.”
Read:Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: 3rd ODI Match Preview
There were many reasons behind Mehidy’s thinking of himself that he couldn’t become a top-class bowler. One of the main of those reasons was his mindset. He had been thinking only to contain the runs for a long time. He never believed that he could be the bowler who can take wickets and trap the batsmen the way he wants, only bringing some changes into his bowling.
But things started to change ahead of Bangladesh’s last tour to Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series when spin-bowling consultant Daniel Vettori was unable to join the team due to travel restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 situation around the globe. It came as a blessing in disguise for Mehidy who got the service of his childhood coach Sohel Islam in Sri Lanka. BCB appointed Sohel as a substitute for Vettori.
“We started to work together ahead of the Sri Lanka Tests,” Sohel told the media after coming to know Mehidy’s new achievement of becoming the number two bowler in the world. “The only problem was his mindset. He used to be more aggressive to take wickets, which eventually forces him to make mistakes. So the first thing we wanted to do is fix his mindset.”
AstraZeneca: Govt's desperate efforts yet to yield any good news
Despite all-out efforts to get AstraZeneca vaccine doses to meet the immediate need of those yet to get their second dose, there is no concrete outcome yet.
Apart from India, Bangladesh reached out to the United States and United Kingdom to get the AstraZeneca vaccine doses as 1.5 million people who have received their first AstraZeneca jabs are unlikely to get their second dose if the government does not receive vaccine doses from the countries it approached including those from COVAX facility.
Asked whether Bangladesh is getting AstraZeneca vaccine doses soon from the US, a spokesperson at the US Embassy in Dhaka said the US President reaffirmed that commitment by announcing that the US will provide 80 million doses of vaccine to support global needs by the end of June.
Read: Bangladesh urgently seeks 1.6mn AstraZeneca doses from UK
But there is nothing specific yet on how many doses Bangladesh will get or when.
“We are working to provide the 80 million doses in the near future and are evaluating the supply and will then make a determination on distribution,” he told UNB.
But Bangladesh informally came to know that Bangladesh is not in the priority lists as the US does not see any crisis in Bangladesh considering the low number of deaths and cases.
The US Embassy spokesperson said the United States is committed to leading the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our overarching aim is to end the pandemic as quickly as possible, and that requires getting as many people vaccinated as fast as possible,” he said.
Read Indonesia suspends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch after death
In addition to distributing the 80 million doses of vaccine, the United States is the largest single donor to the global vaccine initiative, COVAX, with $2 billion already donated and plans to provide another $2 billion through 2022.
“We will continue to work with and coordinate closely with COVAX and partner countries around the world to support global vaccination efforts,” said the spokesperson.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen wrote to US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken seeking vaccine doses from them immediately.
After its request to the United States, Bangladesh urged the United Kingdom (UK) to help by providing vaccines to meet emergency needs as the second dose vaccination is disrupted in Bangladesh.
"I’m not asking for too much, I’m only asking for 1.6m AstraZeneca doses that they have, they should immediately disperse those to Bangladesh so these people can have their second dose," said the Foreign Minister.
Read US will share AstraZeneca vaccines with world
When approached, a UK government spokesperson told UNB that the UK government does not have a role in the production or distribution of AstraZeneca‘s vaccines or their supply contracts.
The spokesperson said the UK has played a leading role in championing global access to coronavirus vaccines.
The UK is one of the largest donors to COVAX, providing £548 million to deliver more than a billion vaccines to lower-middle income countries this year.
So far, COVAX has already helped deliver vaccines to more than 120 countries and territories, over 70 of which are lower-income countries.
“Of the almost 1.5 billion vaccines which have been delivered across the world, more than 400 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have been given around the world, at cost,” said the spokesperson adding that the UK Prime Minister has confirmed the UK will share the majority of any future surplus coronavirus vaccines from their supply with the COVAX pool, when these are available.
Read: Bangladesh seeks at least 2 mln doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada
Foreign Minister Momen said the problem that Bangladesh is facing for ensuring the second dose could have been resolved easily if vaccine doses were available from the COVAX facility timely.
He also wrote Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar apart from telephone conversation between them on vaccine issues.
“I told him (Jaishankar) to send 1.5 million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses to Bangladesh as a gift if there is any export bar,” Dr Momen said.
A government source, however, said they are still hopeful of getting some vaccine doses from India in June to meet immediate needs.
Bangladesh entered into a deal with the Serum Institute of India (SII) to purchase 30 million doses of a potential vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca for Covid-19.
Read Bangladesh reaches out to int'l media as it seeks vaccines desperately
Bangladesh was supposed to get five million doses of vaccine per month as the SII and Bangladesh’s Beximco Pharma signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for priority delivery of the vaccine doses.
Bangladesh sought at least 3 million doses of vaccine under the agreement to address the immediate demand in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has so far received only 7 million of Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine doses produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) through its contract. Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift.
The British Government, Oxford University and AstraZeneca, have invested in the research and came together to develop and deliver a vaccine at cost for everyone.
Read More support easing vaccine patent rules, but hurdles remain
They expect to have surplus doses, but exactly when these will be available depends on a number of factors including the continued reliability of supply chains and whether new doses are needed to deal with variant strains or as a booster.
The government officials said both the first dose and second dose vaccination will begin simultaneously in June as procuring vaccine doses from China is at the final stage.
The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh is at the final stage to procure vaccine doses from China. “It’s at the final stage. All types of discussions are very positive.”
The government is in discussion to procure 1.5 crore doses of vaccine from China for June, July and August with an initial consignment of 50 lakh doses.
Read: Efforts intensified to get Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from US: FM
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Thursday approved Health and Family Welfare Ministry’s proposal to procure 1.5 crore doses of Chinese Sinofarm’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr Momen said China assured Bangladesh of providing vaccines ensuring its steady flow of supply.
An official at the Directorate General of Health Services said the government at the highest level is trying to get vaccine doses for smooth continuation of vaccination drives across the country.
“I hope we will get the vaccines. You’ll get the second dose,” he said, requesting all to wait with patience.
The first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination drive remains stopped due to supply shortage while the stock for the second dose to get finished within days leaving around 15 lakh people waiting for their second dose.
Read EU takes on AstraZeneca in court over vaccine deliveries