Government begins importing 95mn vaccine doses for steady supply, says Advisor Zahed

He says Bangladesh now has “adequate stocks” of TCV and HPV vaccines

The government has initiated the process of importing 95 million doses of vaccines to maintain a steady immunisation flow nationwide over the next 12 months.

At a weekly briefing at the Secretariat on Tuesday, Information Advisor Zahed Ur Rahman said the government has already paid $83.6 million to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to secure 10 types of vaccines.

Shipments began arriving earlier this month, with over 1.5 million inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) doses reaching the country on May 3.

This was followed by another 1.5 million measles rubella (MR) doses and 900,000 tetanus diphtheria (TD) doses on May 6.

The advisor said by May 10, a total of 13.2 million doses of MR, TD, bacillus calmette guerin (BCG), typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), oral polio vaccine (OPV) and pentavalent vaccine had arrived in the country.

According to him, the government’s plan is to complete the entire supply process by September.

He said the target of administering 18 million MR doses for children aged six months to under five years has already been fully achieved.

Zahed noted that there are “adequate stocks” of TCV and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, and the new supply will ensure no shortage of vaccines for the next eight to 12 months.

On the power and energy sector, he said production at Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) resumed on May 8 after remaining shut for around three weeks.

He also said a modernisation and expansion project has been taken to increase ERL’s capacity by 2030.

Under the project, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will set up a new unit at ERL with an annual crude oil refining capacity of 3 million metric tonnes.

This will strengthen national energy security, increase environment-friendly fuel production and reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum, the advisor added.

He said there was no loadshedding in the country until May 11 and electricity supply remained stable.

Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the government has taken special measures on railways and waterways to ensure safer travel for holidaymakers, Zahed said.

Advance train ticket sales will begin fully online from May 13, while five pairs of special trains and three cattle-special trains will operate during the Eid period.

Revised ferry fares have been introduced from May 5, and strict action has been ordered against unfit launches.

Additional magistrates and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel will be deployed to ease road congestion during Eid travel.

Referring to agriculture, the advisor said more than 84 percent of Boro paddy harvesting had already been completed in seven flood-hit districts, including Haor areas.

The government procurement drive targeting 1.8 million metric tonnes of rice and paddy began on May 3.

The Ministry of Commerce has also started selling essential goods at subsidised prices through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to around 2.9 million beneficiaries.

Separately, the primary and mass education ministry has initiated distribution of tablets to 384,000 teachers, Zahed said.