Bangladesh will receive the covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca by Jan 25 from the Serum Institute of India, authorities have said. Director General of Health Services ABM Khurshid Alam said on Monday that, Beximco Pharma told us that the vaccine will arrive in Bangladesh between Jan 21-25. It will be stored in Beximco’s warehouse.
ABM Khurshid Alam said, The drugs will then be sent to different districts of the country following a list by the health directorate.
Mr. Alam added that the second dose of the vaccine would be administered two months after the first shot, as per new instructions from Oxford-AstraZeneca. That means five million people will be inoculated against COVID-19 in the first phase, he said.
“Earlier we were told that the second dose will be given 28 days apart. Taking that into account, we planned to vaccinate 2.5 million people. But we changed the plan after getting the new rule.” The online registration for vaccination will kick off on Jan 26.
The health directorate is expected to receive the vaccine doses on Jan 27, according to Dr Shamsul Haque, a director of DGHS.
The health authorities will proceed with vaccinating some frontline volunteers and physicians of several medical college hospitals. Vaccination at the field level will begin in the first week of February.
