20 lakh vaccine doses arrive in Dhaka
Beximco will supply the doses from its Tongi warehouse upon the government’s demand
In the second lot, 20 lakh doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Dhaka from India's Serum Institute on early Tuesday night.
An Air India flight carrying the vaccines landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 12.23am.
After unloading the shots at Dhaka airport, those were taken to Beximco Pharmaceuticals' Tongi warehouse.
Beximco's Chief Operating Officer Rabbur Reza said they will store the vaccine there, maintaining the cold chain and supply upon government's demands.
Bangladesh on Monday – the 13th day of the nationwide Covid-19 immunisation drive – inoculated 2.25 lakh more people. According to the health directorate, 31 of the total recipients showed mild side effects after receiving the shot.
Meantime, 3,444,908 people have registered to receive the vaccine until Monday noon.
On 7 February, the country started the mass inoculation drive with 70 lakh doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – 50 lakh doses purchased and 20 lakh as a gift from India.
According to the country's 3-crore-dose vaccine purchase agreement, India's Serum will supply Bangladesh 50 lakh shots per month.
The vaccination campaign is currently being carried out at 1,005 centres across the country. Except for on weekends, around 2,400 teams are inoculating citizens from 8am to 2:30pm every day.