Govt plans to set up national vaccine institute: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said today that the government has plans to establish a vaccine institute to produce vaccines in the country.

She made the disclosure on Wednesday in response to the ruling party MP Anwar Hossain Khan during a question-answer session at the parliament.

"Crises like - global economic contraction and vaccine inequality, induced by the global pandemic, have hampered the development of many countries," the premier said adding that the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has globally augmented the importance of vaccine production and more research related to it.

"Therefore, the ruling party government has planned to set up an international standard vaccine institute and formulate vaccine policy in the country aiming to produce vaccines against virus-causing diseases, including Covid-19."

Meanwhile, the premier talked about the progress of the Padma Bridge while replying to Jatiya Party MP, elected from Dhaka-4, Syed Abu Hossain.

She said, "The physical progress of the state-funded 9.83km Padma Bridge project was 88.75% till October this year."

Sheikh Hasina hoped that the dream bridge will be open to traffic by June 2022.

During her speech, the premier dedicated her WITSA Eminent Persons Award-2021, which she was given in recognition of her strong leadership in formulating and implementing the Digital Bangladesh programme and its unique contribution to improving the living standards of the people, to the countrymen.

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak received the award on behalf of the Prime Minister on the third day of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA-2021) held in Dhaka on 13 November.