Voicing concerns over the suspension of administering the first dose of Covid vaccine in Bangladesh, the BNP standing committee has urged the government to intensify its efforts for collecting the jabs from alternative sources.

“Our standing committee is worried over the vaccine crisis and the suspension of the vaccination programme. The government couldn’t collect the necessary vaccine doses due to its irresponsibility and incompetence,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Sunday.

Speaking at a virtual press conference on the outcomes of BNP standing committee’s meeting held on Saturday, he said the government has also failed to take the right decision on the vaccine import as it has become “isolated from people”.

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“Corruption is the main reason behind such a vaccine crisis. They’ve taken a wrong decision on procuring the vaccine from a single source in India through a corrupt company owned by a leader of their party,” the BNP leader observed.

Fakhrul said their party and the country’s health experts had warned the government of the consequences of procuring the vaccine from a single source, but it did not change its stance. 

“They (govt) didn’t look for an alternative source of the corona vaccine as it always thinks of benefits of its leaders, not people…the government is running the country with some mafias and the mafias are playing the important role in making decisions and running the country,” he alleged.

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The BNP leader said there is no alternative to installing a pro-people government through a credible election under a non-party administration to get rid of the current situation of the country.

He said the Serum Institute of India has violated the agreement on providing three crores of vaccine to Bangladesh by stopping the supply after only giving 70 lakh jabs, but the government did not raise voice against it.

Fakhrul said their standing committee urged the government to take necessary steps for increasing oxygen production in the country alongside immediately procuring the vaccine from alternative sources.