Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain on Tuesday informed Parliament that a total of Tk4,394.08 crore has so far been spent on procuring COVID-19 vaccines to protect the population during the pandemic.
Responding to a question from lawmaker Joynal Abedin (Feni-2) during the ongoing session of the Jatiya Sangsad, the health minister said a total of Tk4,685.22 crore had been allocated since the 2020-21 fiscal year for purchasing vaccines and other COVID-related supplies. Of this, the majority has been used for vaccine procurement.
He also provided a breakdown of related expenditures, noting that Tk30.88 crore was spent on syringes, Tk19.57 crore on vaccine transportation across the country, and nearly Tk1 crore on shipping and related charges.
Addressing concerns over possible irregularities, the minister said no specific complaints or evidence of corruption in vaccine procurement or storage has been reported so far. However, he assured that the present government remains committed to transparency and will take action if any wrongdoing is identified.
He added that timely government measures helped the country recover from the pandemic and return to normal life relatively quickly.
In a separate response, the health minister announced that the government has taken steps to recruit 1 lakh health workers to strengthen the healthcare system and ensure uninterrupted service delivery. The initiative is part of the government’s broader plan to improve healthcare quality across the country.
He highlighted ongoing recruitment efforts through various BCS examinations, including the appointment of thousands of doctors and dental surgeons in recent years. Despite these efforts, vacancies remain at different levels of the healthcare system, particularly in upazila and union level.
The minister said the process to fill these gaps is already underway and assured that all vacant positions will be filled gradually through continuous recruitment and deployment.
