Russia keen to provide vaccine
Russia is keen to provide Bangladesh the Covid-19 vaccine under the government-to-government arrangement, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday.
"Russia wants to know whether Bangladesh is capable of manufacturing the vaccine. They will give approval," he told journalists following a bilateral meeting with South Korean Ambassador Lee Jang-keun.
Ambassador Lee expressed firm solidarity with the government and the people of Bangladesh in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and his willingness to further strengthen the cooperation, reads an embassy press release.
During the meeting, Lee explained his government's plan to donate Covid-19 test kits, RNA equipment and related materials, and walk-through booths worth 1 million USD in the coming months through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the press briefing, the health minister said Bangladesh has been promised the vaccine by Oxford researchers.
A contract has been signed in this regard between India's Serum Institute and Beximco Pharmaceuticals, he said.
Replying to a question, the health minister said no other country except China has as yet applied for a trial of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.
On August 27, the government gave the nod to the icddr,b, to run the phase-III trial of the Chinese vaccine.
Yesterday, Director General of Directorate General of Health Services Prof Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said Bangladesh would soon begin trial of novel coronavirus vaccine manufactured by China.
He said this at the inauguration of Breastfeeding Week-2020 at the 250-bed Sadar Hospital in Manikganj.
COVID-19 SITUATION
Thirty-three people died from Covid-19 in the country in 24 hours till 8:30am yesterday, according to a press release issued by the DGHS.
The total number of deaths from the highly transmissible virus has now reached 4,281.
Some 2,174 new infections were recorded in the meantime, taking the number of people infected to 3,12,996, reads the press release.
About 12,454 samples were tested in that period, and the current positivity rate is 17.46 percent, lower than the overall positivity rate of 20.19 percent.
Meanwhile, 2,980 Covid-19 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours.
The total number of recoveries stands at 2,04,887, and the recovery rate is 65.46 percent.
Some 494 people were put under isolation in the last 24 hours, the release added.
Among the deceased, 29 were male and four female. One was between the ages of 21 and 30, three were between 31 and 40, three between 41 and 50, six between 51 and 60, and 20 above 60.
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