Declare Covid vaccines a global public good: Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated her call to global leaders to declare Covid-19 vaccines as a "global public good" and allow developing countries and LDCs that have the capacity to produce vaccines.

"For effective global vaccination, Covid-19 vaccines need to be declared as 'global public good'. To guarantee universal access, local production of vaccines by the developing countries and LDCs that have the capacity must be allowed," she said.

The PM made the call in her prerecorded speech for the "White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better Health Security to prepare For the Next".

US President Joe Biden convened the summit.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh took a three-fold approach to fight the pandemic.

Those are: Saving lives by allocating adequate medical facilities, equipment, life-saving drugs and resources; supporting the livelihoods of citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups; and recovering economic activities back on track as quickly as possible.

She mentioned that Bangladesh has so far allocated $15.4 billion under stimulus packages, disbursed $166 million to 4.4 million beneficiaries, including poor elderly, widows, disabled persons, and informal sector workers.

As of September 4, she said, the government has administered more than 35 million shots of vaccines.

"We're planning to vaccinate 20 million people every month until 80 percent of our population is vaccinated by August 2022," she said.

The premier said to build a better future, Bangladesh is focusing on inclusive growth policies with emphasis on improved healthcare systems and social safety net programmes; sustainable economic recovery giving importance to innovation, job creation and investment; and climate resilience and transition to low-carbon development.