Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said the government is making its best efforts to get vaccines connecting multiple countries -- the United States, China, Canada, Russia and the UK -- apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs.  He said the discussion with China is almost at the final stage while they are expecting a positive reply from the US on the vaccine front. While talking to reporters at State guesthouse Padma, Dr Momen said there are people who could not take a second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to short supply from India.  Before the briefing, the Foreign Minister had a meeting with South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun at State guesthouse Padma. He also highlighted the ongoing discussion with Russia. "Hope, everything will be settled within a week." Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister said they came to know unofficially that Bangladesh is not there on the priority list of the USA as there is a lesser number of deaths in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh reported five new Covid-19 deaths until early Friday, including four in Dhaka, taking the national tally to 8,253.