NEW DELHI: India plans to expand its vast but faltering coronavirus vaccination program from March 1 by offering jabs to the over 60s, the government said Wednesday.
The country began vaccinating its 1.3-billion population last month and plans to inoculate 300 million people by July, but so far the rollout has been limited to health care workers and other frontline staff.
However, from Monday people over 60 and those over 45 with multiple medical conditions can be vaccinated for free at 10,000 government hospitals and nearly 20,000 private clinics for a charge.
“Those who want to get vaccinations from private hospitals will have to pay. The amount to be paid will be decided and declared by the health ministry within the next three to four days,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said after a cabinet meeting.
The vaccination program, one of the world’s largest, has so far seen 12.2 million shots administered, according to the health ministry.
But at the current pace it will take several years to inoculate 300 million people.
The vaccines being used are the AstraZeneca jab, made domestically by Indian giant the Serum Institute, and the homegrown Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech, which is yet to complete trials.
The makers of Russia’s Sputnik V have also applied for emergency use approval.
The head of Serum, which other poor countries are relying on for supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said on Sunday it had been “directed to prioritize the huge needs of India.”
Some regions of the country have seen an uptick in infections in recent weeks including in the western state of Maharashtra, which has imposed new restrictions on gatherings.
India starts COVID-19 vaccinations for people over 60s from March 1
https://arab.news/6j4e7
India starts COVID-19 vaccinations for people over 60s from March 1
- The country began vaccinating its 1.3-billion population last month and plans to inoculate 300 million people by July
Tarique Rahman-led BNP set to form Bangladesh’s next government after major election win
- Jamaat-e-Islami, banned during Hasina’s government, won 68 seats
- Majority of Bangladeshis endorsed sweeping reforms in national referendum
DHAKA: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, is set to form the country’s next government after securing a more than two-thirds majority in the first elections since a student-led uprising in 2024 ousted ex-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
The BNP has won at least 209 seats out of the 299 contested, according to the latest election results released by the Election Commission on Friday, paving the way for Rahman to become the country’s next prime minister.
Jamaat-e-Islami, banned during Hasina’s 15 years in power, has registered its best performance yet, winning at least 68 seats and emerging as the main opposition party.
The National Citizen Party, which was born out of the 2024 protests, was in third place with six seats, including for its leader Nahid Islam, while Hasina’s Awami League was barred from participating in the elections.
The majority of Bangladeshis also reportedly voted “yes” in a national referendum on the “July National Charter” that was held alongside the general vote on Thursday.
Named after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, the charter is aimed at achieving sweeping democratic reforms to prevent authoritarian administrations, including term limits for premiers, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence, while also proposing increased representation of women in parliament.
The BNP-led government is likely to follow the commitments made under the charter, said Prof. A.S.M. Amanullah, vice chancellor of the National University in Dhaka, adding that the implementation of the July charter was also included in the party’s election manifesto that covers reform of the state and rebuilding of the economy.
“Mr. Tarique Rahman is a highly trained politician, highly sensitive politician, and he takes decisions based on facts. I believe he prepared himself to run this country locally and play a role internationally,” Amanullah told Arab News.
Rahman is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman. He returned to Bangladesh late last year after nearly two decades of self-imposed exile in the UK, and assumed BNP’s leadership days later, following his mother’s death from a prolonged illness.
In an interview with Arab News earlier this week, the 60-year-old pledged to pursue accountability for the former leadership and meet the political and economic expectations of the youth movement that brought about the change.
The new government is likely to be a mix of young and old politicians, Amanullah said, with Jemaat-e-Islami set to balance out the BNP’s rule.
“This is a very good size of opposition to press the issues or to challenge the government on different issues, different policies and decisions of the government. I’m hopeful about Jemaat,” he said.
“The way the people voted for these major two parties, the BNP and Jemaat, I think if they could work jointly, Bangladesh should see a stable political situation in the near future.”
Mohiuddin Ahmad, a political analyst and researcher, described Jemaat-e-Islami as “the most organized party” in Bangladesh and that it would therefore play an “instrumental” role as the opposition party.
Voter turnout averaged 59.44 percent, the EC said, with many Bangladeshis considering this week’s vote as their first “free and fair” election after more than 17 years.
“Such a result of an election we haven’t actually experienced before,” Muhiuddin Iqbal, a history student at Dhaka University, told Arab News.
“The festive feeling has not gone yet, so we’re very much excited about it and hopeful for the future.”
