Bangladesh on Tuesday administered over 66 lakh Covid vaccine doses, scripting a new record on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s birthday. Though it was the first time that such a large number of people got the Covid shot in a single day, the special nationwide drive to mark Hasina’s 75th birthday fell short of its target of inoculating 75 lakh citizens. Across eight divisions, 66,25,123 people were vaccinated, "which is a record number of jabs inoculated in Bangladesh in a single day", the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has said. Read:Hasina’s birthday celebrated amid mass vaccination campaign Mostly Chinese Sinopharm vaccine shots were given as the first dose -- 65,69,782 people across Bangladesh were administered the jab on Tuesday. In addition, 39,111 doses of the Oxford-AstraZenecca vaccine, 11,287 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 4 943 doses of the Moderna vaccine were administered under this special programme.

The Communist Party of China has greeted Prime Minister and Bangladesh Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on her 73rd birthday with a pledge to strengthen relations with her party.