Vaccination Kicks Off In Bangladesh, PM Sheikh Hasina Thanks India For 2 Million Doses
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina. (Twitter/@MEAIndia)
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday thanked the government of India for the gift of two million doses of Covid-19 vaccine while virtually inaugurating the mass vaccination drive in the country.
A nurse named Runu Veronica Costa was administered the first vaccine dose in Bangladesh at the Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH) in Dhaka, watched virtually by the Prime Minister. Hasina also watched four others take the jab, before 21 more were vaccinated.
When many countries are waiting to begin vaccinating their citizens against Covid-19, Bangladesh has successfully launched the campaign with its limited resources, Hasina said.
Top health official Prof Nasima Sultana, who was inoculated on Wednesday, said she was feeling very well and had been working as usual at office and home.
The additional director general of the health directorate was one of the 26 people who took the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine shot on the first day of the piloting. I volunteered to take the vaccine, hoping to dispel the misconception about vaccination, she told The Daily Star.
The government conducted the two-day piloting of the vaccine before launching the mass inoculation on February 7.
Officials said none of the 567 people, who volunteered to take the shots, have shown any adverse impacts so far. They would be observed for seven days.