Vaccine will be rolled out in Dhaka first

Vaccine will be rolled out in Dhaka first

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said the Covid-19 vaccination program will start in Dhaka first after the arrival of the vaccines from India.

The campaign will be spread out across the country later, he told journalists at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in the capital on Tuesday.

The vaccines to be received by Bangladesh from the Indian government as a gift will arrive in the city on Wednesday or Thursday, he said.

"We are yet to be informed about the schedule of the flight that will bring the vaccines into the country."

However, later on Tuesday, sources at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said the two million doses of Covid-19 vaccines that are India's gift to Bangladesh will arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Sources at the DGHS said the same.

The health authorities are completely prepared for the vaccination program, Zahid Maleque said at the DGHS.

In the initial stage, there is a preparation to vaccinate 200,000 people per day in the district and upazila levels, he added.

Four vaccination teams will work at district level, two in each upazila, and six teams in each hospital.

Bangladesh will receive a total of 2 million additional vaccines as a gift from the Indian government, according to the authorities.

On Monday, the health minister said Serum Institute of India (SII) was expected to export its first lot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh by January 25-26.

The health authorities said a nationwide vaccination program would start from the first week of February.

During his visit to the DGHS, Zahid said the vaccination will be carried out as per the plan. "We may start vaccination earlier upon its arrival."

He said: "If there is any adverse impact after vaccination, we have preparation to deal with the matter. As many as 28,000 people will work as volunteers in the vaccination."