All government agencies which are working to tackle coronavirus in Bangladesh are also working to bring Covid-19 vaccine to the country, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Monday.
"The work on vaccine is at an advance level. Countries including the UK, China, Russia, USA, India and others are at the final stage of vaccine development. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will take the right decision at the right time after scrutinising qualities of the vaccines," he said.
Maleque was speaking at a medical equipment handover programme to tackle Covid-19, organised by Taiwan External Trade Development Centre associated with Walton at Secretariat.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar were also present at the programme, reports UNB.
Replying to a question over rapid-test, the Health Minister said three types of tests are being done for detecting Covid-19 - PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), antigen test and rapid antibody test.
"Though we haven't taken any measures to conduct rapid antibody test, only PCR and Antigen tests are being conducted at the government laboratory," he said.
"Bangladesh is tackling the Covid-19 successfully as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken initiatives since the first Covid-19 patients were reported in the country on March 8. Now the number of Covid-19 patients is less than before and 60-70 per cent beds are now vacant," said Maleque.
He said the government is now thinking about reducing the number of specialised hospitals for Covid-19.
