The minister came up with the remarks while talking to reporters at the secretariat in the afternoon.

Also read:Covid-19 situation under control in Bangladesh: Health Minister

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed for vaccinating all the students who will be staying in residential halls, and teachers and staff as some educational institutes are going to reopen soon,” Zahid Maleque said.

The foreigners who are staying in Bangladesh will have to be vaccinated as well, Maleque said adding, “We’ll provide the vaccine for them once we receive a list from the Foreign Ministry in this regard.”

He went on saying, “We’re also vaccinating all the officials who are working at sea ports across the country. The foreigners who’re working in projects under different ministries must be vaccinated.”

Also read: Talks underway to procure Covid-19 vaccines: Health Minister

Different organisations are interested to provide $ 3.5 billion for operating the vaccine drive, and the government will consider the offer based on the necessity, Maleque said.

Talking about any vaccination campaign under the private sector, the minister said some companies can procure vaccine if the government approves it but they will have to operate it following the guideline of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bangladesh Medicine Administration.

Vaccination drive in Bangladesh

Bangladesh launched its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.

By Tuesday, 3,341,505 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.

The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India's Serum Institute for 30 million doses of the vaccine.

Also read:Now Bangladesh largely safe from Covid-19: Health Minister

The institute will provide five million doses every month between January and June.

The people, who are 40 or above can register for the vaccine at www.surokkha.gov.bd as the on-spot registration system has been revoked.