The government has decided to follow the direct procurement method (DPM) for procuring the vaccines for the Covid-19 considering it as a matter of urgent state necessity.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs took the decision in principle during its 24th meeting of this year held virtually on Wednesday. Law Minister Anisul Huq presided over the meeting, reports BSS.
Addressing a virtual press conference after the meeting, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal said the meeting approved in principle a proposal for following the DPM method for procuring Covid-19 vaccines in line with the Section 76(2) of Public Procurement Rules (PPR), 2008.
The committee approved the proposal as a huge quantity of doses of COVID-19 vaccines would have to be procured at a time to face the pandemic
He also informed that according to the PPR, 2008, any public procurement proposal of over Taka 50 million in a year needs the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Earlier after the Cabinet meeting last Monday, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said that the government would provide 30 million doses of vaccine initially among the people free of cost alongside taking tougher action to compel people wearing masks to check further spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Anwarul had also informed that the prime minister has already given consent to procure 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII). The government also already allocated Taka 7.36 billion to purchase the vaccines.