Hasina proclaims 'historic day' as Bangladesh launches mass vaccination against COVID-19

When many countries are waiting to begin vaccinating their citizens against COVID-19, Bangladesh has made history by launching the campaign with its limited powers, Sheikh Hasina has said.

After inaugurating the drive on Wednesday, the prime minister thanked God. “We have been able to buy and bring the vaccine in time. And we will be able to protect the people by administering the doses from today,” she said.   

“Today is a historic day for Bangladesh," Hasina announced. "Many countries in the world are yet to start inoculating their populations, but we’ve done it despite having a dense population and limited economic power. Today, it has been proved that we work for the welfare of the people.”

She joined the ceremony via video call with a nurse getting the first shot at the Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka. Hasina also watched four others taking jabs. As many as 21 others were being given the shots later.

The prime minister greeted them and asked whether they were afraid of taking the vaccine. She regretted not being able to join the event in person.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme via videoconferencing on Wednesday, Jan 27, 2021.

Hasina thanked the government of India for sending two million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine as gift. Bangladesh has bought another 30 million doses of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India and the first batch of five million shots has arrived in the country.

The prime minister sought everyone’s cooperation to make the campaign a success, saying that the rest of the doses will continue coming as per the deal.

Around 500 others will be vaccinated on Thursday and the authorities will observe them for at least a week following the World Health Organization protocol before starting mass vaccination on Feb 7.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque and top health officials were present at the hospital.