Bangladesh starts administering Sinopharm vaccine

The experimental administering of the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine has started on Tuesday as a part of the inoculation programme in the country.

Health Minister Zahid Malek inaugurated the pilot vaccination programme at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) this morning, reports Jago News.

Doctors, nurses and technologists at four government hospitals in the capital - DMCH, Sir Salimullah, Mugda and Suhrawardy Medical College Hospitals - will be given the vaccine first.

The early vaccine recipients will be monitored for seven to 10 days after being vaccinated. Later, the five lakh doses of the Sinopharm vaccine gifted by China government will be given to 2.5 lakh people.

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) spokesman and director Professor Mohammad Nazmul Islam confirmed the news and said, "Initially, the vaccine will be given to 1,000 people."

"Chinese citizens working in Bangladesh and involved in various development projects alongside Bangladeshi students studying in China will be brought under this inoculation programme," he added.