Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday reaffirmed her government's stance to ensure Covid-19 vaccine doses for all in any case. "Whatever the money is needed, whatever the number of vaccines is required, we’ll buy that," she said. Read: Massive vaccination to begin in July: PM The prime minister said this while inaugurating National Public Service Day 2018 and distributing Public Administration Award 2018 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. Hasina joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban. The prime minister said Bangladesh will produce vaccines in the future so that the people of the country do not suffer in any way. Hasina said the government has started procuring and providing vaccines. "We’ve to give these vaccines massively so that all can stay safe. Inshallah, we’ll get rid of this coronavirus." The prime minister said she has already given directives to vaccinate the helping hands of a family, including housemaids and drivers, so that all of a family can remain protected. Hasina said the pandemic has caused a great problem for every sector, including the economy, education and social sectors. She urged all to follow the health guidelines strictly and asked field-level administration to make people better aware about it. The prime minister said 1.87 crore people have so far been vaccinated and all will be brought under the vaccination programme. "No one will be left out… we’re procuring vaccines for all. Our vaccination programme will go on," she said.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday said the government will receive around 21 crore doses of Covid vaccines early next year to bring the country’s 80 percent population under the vaccination coverage. “Now Bangladesh's most important task is to collect vaccines. The government has now over one crore doses of vaccines in its stock, while it’ll get two more crore doses by next month,” he said. Speaking at a virtual discussion arranged by Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA), the minister said, “The government will receive about 21 crore doses of vaccines, including three crore doses from China, seven crore  each from Russia and Johnson & Johnson, and three crore from AstraZeneca early next year. We hope the government will be able to vaccinate at least 80 percent of the country’s population with these vaccine jabs.” He said all the citizens above 18 years of age will be vaccinated from now on to keep the country's educational institutions functional and bring most citizens under the mass vaccination drive. Read: Bangladesh to go for Covid vaccine coproduction soon: FM The minister said they have already asked the ICT Division to take steps so that people above 18 years of age can register for vaccination through the government-approved "Surokkha" app. Over four percent of the country's population has so far been vaccinated since the government launched the mass vaccination programme on February 7 last by administering Covishield.

Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government is going to resume the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs from Thursday (July 8), said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Tuesday. “The registration process will resume for all from Thursday morning,” Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman, Director (MIS) of the DGHS, told UNB.   “Currently, the registration is ongoing only in three categories on a priority basis. As the mass registration process resumes, all the categories will be available for registering through the Surokkha app as before,” he said.    Earlier, on June 30, Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the Vaccine Deployment Committee, also made the same announcement at a virtual press briefing arranged by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). He said the Sinopharm jabs will be administered at 40 centers in Dhaka city and at all district hospitals from 8am to 3pm every day as in the past. Also read: Bangladesh’s Covid catastrophe worsens; 163 more lives lost Dr Haque said the vaccine will also be given at Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) in Chattogram and Saidpur Sadar Hospital during the same period. He said those who got registered earlier but could not receive the vaccines will be given the Sinopharm jabs now while the medical and university students and those who are on the priority lists can get registered for the vaccine. “Everyone will get an SMS from a vaccination centre after the registration and all must receive the vaccine at that centre accordingly. “In this case, the vaccine card and NID card must be brought for receiving the vaccine.” Dr Haque said the Covid vaccination centers will remain out of the purview of the lockdown. “Those who have vaccine cards will be able to go to the relevant centre showing it.” He said the expatriate workers who stay in countries where the Sinopharm vaccine is accepted also can receive the vaccine at the centers both in Dhaka and outside. “But no one will get the vaccine without registration.” Also read: Chinese firms working with Bangladeshi partners for vaccine co-production Besides, Dr Haque said, the Pfizer vaccine will also be administered at seven centers--Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Kurmitola General Hospital, and Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital—in the capital. He said the outbound expatriate workers who are not allowed to return to their workplaces without getting Pfizer vaccine can only receive the vaccine at the seven centers as per the list from the Manpower Export Promotion Bureau. Dr Haque said those who are supposed to receive Sinopharm jabs from these centres will have to go to alternative centres.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladesh will receive 2.5 million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine under the COVAX facility in two consignments on July 2 and July 3 respectively. The Foreign Minister also said the first consignment of 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine will arrive soon. “I think complexities over vaccine supply are eased,” he told reporters at Foreign Service Academy after a programme. Dr Momen said huge money has been allocated and there is nothing to be worried about vaccine purchase. “We shouldn’t have faced any problem.” Earlier, Deputy Chief of Mission at Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Hualong Yan said the first consignment of 2 million doses of vaccine as part of Bangladesh government's commercial purchase from China's Sinopharm are ready for delivery in Beijing. READ: Individuals having appointments to be allowed to go to foreign missions during lockdown: FM "China stands by our Bangladeshi friends in fighting the new wave of the pandemic," he said. Bangladesh is likely to get 1.5 crore of Sinopharm vaccine doses from China while China says it is ready to supply more, if needed. Earlier, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller tweeted saying Bangladesh will soon receive a gift of 2.5 million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the American people via GAVI. "As the largest contributor to COVAX, the U.S. is committed to increasing the country’s vaccine supply to beat the pandemic here and worldwide." Ambassador Miller said. Bangladesh entered into a deal with the Serum Institute of India (SII) to purchase 30 million doses of a potential vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca for Covid-19. Bangladesh was supposed to get five million doses of vaccine per month as the SII and Bangladesh’s Beximco Pharma signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for priority delivery of the vaccine doses. Bangladesh has so far received only 7 million of Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine doses produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) through its contract. Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift. Regarding the national budget he said, an “optimistic budget” has been passed despite bad days due to Covid-19 situation with an expansion of the social safety net. “It has been proved again that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a friend of the poor.” Responding to a question on use of Myanmar’s SIM cards in Rohingya camps, Dr Momen said the government stopped 4G services in the camps to stop criminal activities and trafficking in person. He, however, said they reintroduced it amid desperate efforts from the UNHCR and rights bodies. The Foreign Minister said the government has had no direct communication with the Myanmar government since the military took over power there. “We’re observing the situation.” READ: S Asian nations should receive vaccines without any strings attached: FM Earlier, Dr Momen along with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam spoke at the function marking the launching of Foreign Service Debating Club. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen was also present.

Bangladesh on Tuesday began administering the first dose of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, marking a major turning point in its fight against Covid-19 pandemic. Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the inoculation programme at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. On May 12, Bangladesh received 5 lakh China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses, donated by the Chinese government. Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, China and Bangladesh have been supporting and assisting each other in their fight against the pandemic. China has donated and is donating vaccine doses to 80 developing countries with urgent needs, and has provided support under COVAX for the emergency use of vaccines in developing countries. Also read: Process to procure vaccine from China at final stage: FM China has fulfilled its commitment to make the Covid-19 vaccine a global public good with practical actions, promoted the fair distribution of global vaccines and made China’s contribution to the realisation of vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. China says it will continue to make joint efforts with Bangladesh to make positive contributions to Bangladesh’s endeavour of protecting human lives and fight to win the battle against the pandemic, and together to build an even closer community of shared future and health for mankind.

Bangladesh will receive a minimum of 1,06,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine by June 2, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Tuesday. The doses will be sent to Bangladesh under the COVAX scheme which is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), said Maidul Islam, the public relation officer of the ministry. Also read: Bangladesh seeks at least 2 mln doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has an efficacy of 95% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, preliminary laboratory studies of the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna have shown decreased effectiveness against the double mutant variants discovered in India, WHO said in a note. Read: Vaccine production in Bangladesh: Experts 'vehemently against private sector’s engagement'

Bangladesh on Tuesday crossed the grim milestone of 12,000 coronavirus fatalities, nearly 15 months after reporting the first death in March last year. With 33 latest fatalities in 24 hours until morning, the death tally soared to 12,005. The country has been seeing below 60 daily deaths for a week after recording over 100 fatalities on several occasions last month. However, the mortality rate rose to 1.55 percent after staying at 1.54 for four days, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Besides, 1,230 new cases were detected after testing of 14,184 samples, pushing up the caseload to 776,257. Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,661,926 tests. The daily infection rate fell slightly to 8.67 percent from Monday’s 8.99 percent. Also read: Ready to offer more support if Covid situation deteriorates in Bangladesh: China After a massive upsurge in April, the number of daily cases fell below 2,000 since May 1. However, the number of tests, as well as new cases, has declined from May 4, according to corona.gov.bd.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said the government has its own plan about the next move as Bangladesh’s new status as a developing country will pose new challenges for it.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she has not yet taken the Covid-19 vaccine but will take it for sure.

Bangladesh saw a rise in Covid-19 related deaths and a decline in new cases in the last 24 hours until Sunday morning.