Bangladesh will resume with AstraZeneca second dose shots within a day or two, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque today.

The Olympics host city Tokyo, as well as Thailand and Malaysia, announced a record number of COVID-19 infections on Saturday, mostly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the disease.

So far, around half of teenagers from 12 to 17 in Tartu, Estonia’s second-largest city, have already received their first vaccine shot, and local health officials are working to reach 70% by the time school resumes on September 1.

Bangladesh today received 7.81 lakh doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines from Japan under the COVAX facility, bringing the total supply from the country to 10.26 lakh.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog received a third shot of coronavirus vaccine on Friday, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 as part of efforts to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

The government has decided to inoculate at least 60 lakh people against Covid-19 in just six days starting from August 7, in what officials said would be a special campaign mainly targeting the elderly individuals in rural areas.

A fire gutted two deep freezers which used to preserve Covid vaccines at the civil surgeon’s office in Barguna yesterday morning.

The second consignment of Japan-manufactured AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive in Bangladesh tomorrow.

The government’s decision to reopen garment factories and other export-related industries from August 1 will increase the risk of Covid-19 transmission, said the chairman of the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19.

Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency to four more areas in addition to Tokyo on Friday following record spikes in infections as the capital hosts the Olympics.

A total of 30 lakh Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses arrived in Bangladesh between this morning and last night.

Israel’s prime minister on Thursday announced that the country would offer a coronavirus booster to people over 60 who have already been vaccinated.

Bangladesh will need an estimated $3.7 billion to inoculate 80 percent of the population against Covid in one and a half to two years and achieve herd immunity.

The government yesterday lowered the age limit from 30 to 25 years for Covid-19 vaccination.

A rights organisation served a legal notice on the government yesterday, requesting it to take necessary steps in 24 hours to provide Covid-19 vaccine to expecting mothers on priority basis. 

Ten lakh doses of Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccine arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:20am tonight.

Thirty lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China will reach Bangladesh tonight, said health ministry officials.

AstraZeneca is exploring options for the future of its COVID-19 vaccine and expects greater clarity on the matter by the end of 2021, a senior executive told Reuters on Thursday.

Second-quarter sales of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine more than tripled to $894 million from the previous three months, but the drugmaker once again delayed its US application for approval.

Government has lowered the age bar, from 30 to 25 years, for taking the Covid-19 jab.