Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen has instructed the Health Directorate to investigate whether any recipients of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine in Bangladesh have experienced side effects. Of these, the highest number - 207.676 million doses - were of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Lawsuits are ongoing in the UK against AstraZeneca, claiming compensation of 100 million pounds due to deaths and complications from vaccine side effects. However, Health Minister Sen said that the decision to withdraw the vaccine from Bangladesh will be based on verification of side effects. He participated in a meeting organised by the ‘Bangladesh Parliamentary Forum for Health and Wellbeing’ to strengthen the vaccination programme and ensure universal health care.
