The age limit for getting vaccinated against Covid-19 will be revised after the arrival of more vaccine doses, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday. The minister came up has appointed Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah, former Senior Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry, as the next Chairman and former Bangladesh. Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) Chairman Md Jahurul Haque as the Commissioner of the anti-graft watchdog respectively.
A notification signed by Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, announcing the fresh appointments was issued on Wednesday.
The notification said the decision will be made effective soon.
with the remarks while talking to reporters at the secretariat in the afternoon.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed for vaccinating all the students who will be staying in residential halls, and teachers and staff as some educational institutes are going to reopen soon,” Zahid Maleque said.
The foreigners who are staying in Bangladesh will have to be vaccinated as well, Maleque said adding, “We’ll provide the vaccine for them once we receive a list from the Foreign Ministry in this regard.”
He went on saying, “We’re also vaccinating all the officials who are working at sea ports across the country. The foreigners who’re working in projects under different ministries must be vaccinated.”
Different organisations are interested to provide $ 3.5 billion for operating the vaccine drive, and the government will consider the offer based on the necessity, Maleque said.
Talking about any vaccination campaign under the private sector, the minister said some companies can procure vaccine if the government approves it but they will have to operate it following the guideline of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bangladesh Medicine Administration.
Bangladesh launched its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.
By Tuesday, 3,341,505 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.
The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India’s Serum Institute for 30 million doses of the vaccine.
The institute will provide five million doses every month between January and June.
The people, who are 40 or above can register for the vaccine at www.surokkha.gov.bd as the on-spot registration system has been revoked.
