Inoculation of 50% target population possible by Dec: Health minister

It will be possible to vaccinate at least 50 percent of the target population by December due to the manner in which Covid-19 vaccine is coming to the country according to the government's plan, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said today.

"Even though Bangladesh itself has not produced any vaccine it now has almost all types of vaccines that have been produced in the world," he said addressing a discussion organised by UHFPO - an organisation of upazila health officers, at the Hotel Intercontinental in the capital this afternoon.

"Vaccination for school-going children between 12 and 17 has already started and gradually all the people of the country will get it," the health minister said.

From now on, at least three crore doses of vaccine will arrive in the country every month, the health minister said adding that "China's Sinopharm vaccine is coming in line with the agreement".

"More vaccines have started arriving as per agreement through the World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccines from the Serum Institute of India (SII) are also coming. Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines are also arriving in the country under Covax facilities," said Zahid.

"It was already proven that it is possible to give 80 lakh doses of vaccine in one day," he further said.

"The country's health sector has been acclaimed worldwide for tackling two waves of Covid-19 very efficiently, including tackling dengue over the past two years," he said.

"Bangladesh has ranked 26th in the world in tackling the coronavirus, in a recent survey conducted by Nippon of Japan, Bloomberg and WHO, which is not a small achievement for a very densely populated country," added the minister.

"The honourable prime minister has repeatedly praised the health sector. But a class of people, knowingly or unknowingly, have criticised the country's health sector to embarrass the government.

"Such a difficult time may come again, therefore, everyone involved in the health sector should be more careful," he said.