Fakhrul receives first covid vaccine jab

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir got the first dose of coronavirus vaccine on Monday.

He received the jab at Kuwait Maitree Hospital in the morning, the BNP leader said.

He went to Singapore for treatment on Jan 30 and returned home last Thursday.

Meanwhile, BNP Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khahn, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Chairperson's adviser Zainul Abedin Faruk and party's Joint Secretary General Mahbub Uddin Khokon have already received the first dose of the vaccine.

Bangladesh launched a mass countrywide vaccine drive on Feb 7. The government signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd for 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Serum will provide the doses within June this year.

So far, 4,399,324 people have registered for vaccine and 3,110,525 of them have received the first shot. The second dose has to be taken 8-12 weeks of the first jab.

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18.

Until Monday, the country reported 546,801 cases with 8,416 fatalities. But there have been 497,797 recoveries so far.