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At the inaugural event, five people were vaccinated in the virtual presence of the Prime Minister. Runu Veronica Costa, a senior staff nurse at Kurmitola General Hospital, was the first to get the shot in the country.
Four others who received the Covid-19 vaccine doses at the event are Dr Ahmed Lutfun Mobin, a physician of the hospital, Prof Dr Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General (admin) of the Director General of Health Services, Brig Gen M Imran Hamid, an official of Bangladesh Army, and Didarul Islam, a member of traffic police (Motijheel Zone).
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At the function, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said now 70 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine are available in the country. Bangladesh first received two million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from India as a gift and then received five more million doses from Serum Institute of India.
He said Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is the safest one in the world. The treatment facilities are there in the case of any side-effect of the vaccination is seen, the minister added.
The online registration for possible recipients of the inoculation has also started, said PMO Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah while conducting the event.
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To get registered for the vaccination, one will have to do that through www.suokkha.gov.bd, he said.
Now, the vaccination programme will initially be conducted at five centres in the capital and then the nationwide inoculation will start in early February.