Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said that Bangladesh got free Covid-19 vaccines worth around Tk20,000 crore from the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We’ve vaccinated around 98% of the targeted population, which is 75% of the total population of the country,” he said at a views exchange meeting with party leaders and activists at Shuvo Centre in Manikganj Sadar on Wednesday.
Globally, more than 5.15 billion people worldwide have received a Covid vaccine, equal to about 67.1% of the world population.
“We’ve received the highest number of Covid vaccines from the WHO. The price of the vaccine is around Tk20,000 crore,” the minister said.
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He added that the people could celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr this year with comfort as the country’s pandemic situation was under control due to the guidance of the prime minister.
Nearly one million people left the capital for their village homes and tourist destinations ahead of the Eid, as the government did not impose any Covid restrictions this year.
In Bangladesh, 10 new cases were registered in the 24 hours till Wednesday morning, with a test-positivity rate of 0.6%.
The latest additions took the country’s total caseload to 1,952,743 and the total number of recoveries to 1,896,531.
Bangladesh confirmed its first Covid death on March 18, 2020, and the death toll currently stands at 29,127.
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“We’ve been able to contain the spread of coronavirus. Our economy is moving forward…GDP is 6%. The economy of the countries that failed to control Covid is facing a downtrend.
“On the other hand, Bangladesh is among the top countries with a strong economy,” the minister said.
GDP target 7.5% in FY23
In mid-April, the government set a 7.5% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target for the next fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23). It has also retained the 7.2% growth target for the ongoing FY22.
The World Bank has projected that Bangladesh's GDP would grow by 6.7% in FY23, while the ADB expected the economy to expand by 7.1%.
On the other hand, the inflation rate for FY23 has been projected at 5.5%. Inflation jumped to 6.17% in February, the highest in 16 months.
According to the government's projection, the size of the economy would be $512 billion, or Tk4,412,849 crore in FY23, while it was Tk3,895,483 crore in FY22.
Pandemic easing
In March, the country reported 85 deaths from Covid and 8,000 new cases while 66,639 patients recovered from the disease, according to the health authorities.
Among the deaths, 44 were unvaccinated patients, 11 were vaccinated with the first dose of the Covid vaccine, 28 with the second dose and two with the third dose.
Also Read - Covid-19: Bangladesh logs zero daily deaths after 96 days
On March 15, Bangladesh logged zero Covid-related deaths after 96 days, amid signs that the pandemic is easing with a declining positivity rate.
The country reported its first zero death from Covid in a single day on November 20 last year, along with 178 infections, since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in early 2020.
Besides, Bangladesh registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.
Our Manikganj Correspondent Motiur Rahman contributed to this report.
