Health Services Division Secretary Abdul Mannan on Monday said Bangladesh will get coronavirus vaccine on a priority basis and free of cost once it is invented.
"Countries like United Kingdom and China are close to be successful in inventing coronavirus vaccine," he said while presiding over a virtual meeting of the national technical advisory committee.
The health experts of the committee noted that the number of corona tests has fallen in the country and it needs to be increased for fighting the pandemic.
Besides, they said, the authority concerned must find out the reasons why so many beds in Covid-19 hospitals remain empty and people are not interested to get admitted to the hospitals.
As per the information, any country having per capita income of less than US$4000 will get coronavirus vaccine free of cost. As Bangladesh has per capita income of nearly US$2000, it will get free vaccine.
The government has a plan to distribute the vaccine gradually after it reaches the country's 80 per cent of the population.
Abdul Mannan also said there is a stock of 0.3 million PCR kits in the country. If 10,000 tests are done everyday, this quantity can meet the demand for one month.
By this time, steps will be taken to import more kits. It means there is no crisis of corona test kits in the country and the number of tests will be increased, he added.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Vice-chancellor Prof Dr Kanak Kanti Barua said the number of corona tests has dropped in the country.
The number of tests has to be increased to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus situation is gradually improving in the country, he added.
Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad president Prof Dr Iqbal M Arsalan said many beds in the Covid hospitals are empty.
Committee's chairman Prof Dr Shahidullah made several suggestions including increasing the number of coronavirus tests, relaxing duty on release of emergency medical supplies and equipment at airports, appointing an emergency focal point to DG health and preparing easy working mechanism for emergency works at central medical stores and depot (CMSD).
Director general of DG health Prof Abul Kalam Azad said there is no lack of coordination between the health ministry and DG health.
