Pathao, the country's leading digital services platform, on Wednesday took an initiative to enable access to COVID-19 vaccines for about 1,000 of its service, under the facilitation of "EkShop", an a2i initiative of the government.
Pathao’s food and courier delivery agents were registered for vaccination at the company’s headquarters in the capital on the day, said a press release.
Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pathao and related e-commerce service providers have been working to bring essential urgent products to the doorsteps of the consumers, while adhering to proper healthcare guidelines.
Accordingly, the government has already designated e-commerce as an emergency service, and the health ministry has granted permission to 6,000 e-commerce workers for vaccine registration, to ensure the health and safety of these frontline workers.
In this regard, Shah Ali Akbar Ashrafi, head of the Health Information Unit in the Directorate General of Health Services, said: “During the pandemic, Pathao and other leading e-commerce and logistics companies are delivering essential goods to the doorsteps of consumers.
A2I has taken measures to vaccinate e-commerce workers with the Covid-19 vaccine to safeguard their health and safety, he also said.
They can get vaccinated by registering through the Surokkha web portal. This initiative will make the e-commerce sector stronger, more robust and dynamic, Ashrafi added.
ekShop of a2i and the ICT Division has led various measures around the e-commerce industry since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The services of e-commerce workers are critical during the time of the pandemic. It is therefore important to keep them healthy. We are taking all possible precautions to ensure the well-being of e-commerce workers," said Rezwanul Haque Jami, team leader of ekShop.
"The latest spike in the Covid-19 cases serves as a reminder that our fight against the pandemic continues. At Pathao, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure the health and safety of our customers and service providers," said Fahim Ahmed, president of Pathao.
Pathao also applauded the government's decision to allow resumption of public transportation in all city corporation areas across the country, including in Dhaka.
In compliance with the regulations, Pathao 'Car' has already resumed service in these areas.
As Bangladesh’s largest digital service platform for public transportation, Pathao emphasized the need for all to act responsibly and comply with health, hygiene and safety protocols.
