staff Correspondent: The Bangladesh government will pay Tk 600 crore through a bank on Sunday for the purchase of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Seram Institute of India. On the other hand, Seram Institute will give a bank guarantee to Bangladesh.

This information was given by BBC Bangla in a report quoting the Department of Health on Saturday (January 2). According to the Department of Health, the Seram Institute, an Indian vaccine manufacturer, will take advance money as a guarantee of the vaccine agreement and the rest will be paid after the vaccine supply starts.

According to the terms of the agreement, if they cannot vaccinate by next June, they will return the money in advance to Bangladesh. If all goes well, Bangladesh will be able to bring the vaccine in the first week of February, said Professor Abul Basar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, director general of the health department.

The Indian government approved the AstraZeneca vaccine in Oxford on Saturday, January 2. So Bangladesh went one step further in purchasing vaccines from Indian vaccine manufacturers. Earlier, the government of Bangladesh signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health, Seram Institute, a vaccine manufacturer in India, and Beximco Pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh to purchase Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. This money will be given in its continuation.

Professor Abul Basar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, director general of the health department, said there are two sides to any vaccine. One. Vaccination brought to the country and 2nd. Is to reach the consumer level. "There are a lot of legal procedures in this regard, you know, there are a lot of laws," he said. However, the Prime Minister has given us approval so that it can be purchased directly.

Professor Abul Basar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said that cold chain should be maintained for storage . That is why the department has signed an agreement with Beximco Pharmaceuticals. They (Beximco) will reach out to the depots at the district level which have the capacity to maintain cold chain.

26,000 health assistants and assistant health inspectors will work across the country to vaccinate. The director general of the health department also said that they will start training in a few days.