Administering of Chinese Covid-19 vaccine will begin on May 25 or 26, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday.
“The vaccine will be given on a priority basis to those who need it the most,” he said while responding to a question from reporters at the secretariat.
In a bulletin on Wednesday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said medical college and nursing college students along with medical technologists will get this vaccine first.
The minister also said on Monday that the available doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will run out within seven to 10 days.
Also Read: Medical, nursing students, technologists to get Chinese Covid vaccine first
“We have been trying to get the second dose of the vaccine. We contacted the Indian High Commissioner, we talked to the UK authorities and the prime minister is also trying so that we could get the second dose of the vaccine,” he said.
He said: “We have taken some initiatives. We talked to the US, China, Russia and the UK and some progress has been made. Hopefully you will get good news soon.
"As per contacts, we have got only 7 million of doses out of 30 million. We are also worried about the second dose of vaccine like you."
Vaccine arrives from China
On Wednesday last, 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, donated by the Chinese government to Bangladesh, arrived in Dhaka.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, China and Bangladesh have been supporting and assisting each other to fight together against the pandemic.
Also Read: Half a million doses of Sinopharm vaccine reach Dhaka
China has donated and is donating vaccines to 80 developing countries with urgent needs, and has provided support under Covax for the emergency use of vaccines in developing countries.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
Administering the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
In the last 24 hours, 10 people have received the first dose of the vaccine while 97,337 have received the second dose, said the health directorate.