“Vaccine was not purchased for the benefit of any vested group,” he insisted at a regular briefing at his official residence in the morning.

He also urged BNP leaders to abstain from spreading confusion over a sensitive issue like vaccines, and said “The allegations of business interests regarding vaccine procurement are baseless and unnecessary.”

Also read:BNP trying to take revenge on people: Quader

The general secretary of the ruling Awami League said “It is unfair to create undue suspicion among the people and tarnish a good deed unnecessarily.”

Quader called on the BNP to make constructive criticism as a political party and said that “The people will not accept their (BNP’s) lies like previous times.”

The minister also urged the people of the country to boycott the people who are spreading the propaganda and false confusion about the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the first consignment containing five million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine purchased by Bangladesh from licensed manufacturers Serum Institute of India under the brand name Covishield reached Dhaka on Monday.

Also read: Stop sheltering criminals: Quader

Last week, Bangladesh received two million doses of the same vaccine as a gift from India.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to launch a pilot coronavirus vaccination drive at Kurmitola General Hospital in the capital on January 27.

She will inaugurate the vaccination programme virtually, said Abdul Mannan, Secretary of Health Service Division of the Health Ministry, on Saturday.

The primary vaccine campaign will begin by vaccinating a nurse at the hospital, he said.

According to the government, Bangladesh’s Covid-19 fatalities rose to 8,055 on Tuesday as the health authorities recorded 14 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours till morning.

A total of 515 new cases were identified pushing up the national tally to 532,916, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.

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