Pfizer for KSA, Kuwait migrants, Sinopharm for others

In this photo a health worker inoculates a man with a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMU), in Dhaka on 22 June 2021.
AFP file photo

The government has started the registration process of migrant workers for Covid-19 vaccine through 'surokkha app' from Monday.

Among the registered, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Kuwait-bound migrants will get the Pfizer shots from seven booths of the capital city. The remaining migrants will be inoculated Chinese Covid-19 jab, Sinopharm, from all vaccination centres across the country.

The expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry and the information and communication technology ministry came up with this announcement on Monday evening in a joint virtual press conference.

At the event, expatriates' welfare and overseas employment minister Imran Ahmad inaugurated the registration process. It is said at the press briefing that migrants, who have registered with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, will be allowed to register from Monday.

Physician Abul Basar Mohammed Kurshid Alam, director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said Saudi Arabia and Kuwait bound workers will have to take Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. There is no such condition from other countries. So, all expats will get vaccines.

“Due to the shortage, it is not possible to take the Pfizer jabs out of the capital. However, Moderna vaccines will only be available within the city corporation areas,” Mohammed Kurshid Alam added.