Health and family welfare minister Zahid Maleque has said that some 20 per cent of the country's populations will be vaccinated by December next under the first phase of the Covax facility.
In the second phase, the country will get more vaccines under the Covax arrangement to inoculate another 20 per cent in phases, a statement said quoting the minister after his meeting with the director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva on Friday.
During the meeting, WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus assured the minister of providing technical assistance to produce vaccines in Bangladesh, the official statement said.
"As per total population of Bangladesh, we will get Covid-19 vaccines for 40 per cent people of the country under Covax facilities. WHO chief agreed to send coronavirus jabs to Bangladesh for our 40 per cent people in phases," Mr Zahid Maleque said.
The ministry of health and family welfare issued a statement on Saturday about the outcome of the meeting, held in Geneva, Switzerland.
"We're hopeful that we will be able to get vaccines for 20 per cent of the (country's) population under the Covax facility by December next. In a very short possible time, we'll get jabs for 40 per cent of the population," it said citing the minister.
In the meeting, the WHO director general assured the minister of providing technical assistance to produce vaccines in the country, the statement said.
The WHO chief hailed Bangladesh's initiatives to counter the spread of coronavirus. Mr Ghebreyesus also assured that WHO would give importance to the health minister's request to provide more Pfizer and Moderna vaccines under the Covax arrangement.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has received 0.79 million (790,000) doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from Germany.
A Qatar Airways flight carrying the shipment landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 5:00 pm on Saturday.
German Ambassador to Bangladesh Achim Tröster and Health Services Division Senior Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah received the consignment at the airport.
The doses were provided to Bangladesh under the Covax facility.
