Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has urged the government to ensure transparency in the procurement, collection and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, reports UNB.
Lauding the government decision to collect vaccines promptly from Serum Institute of India, TIB stressed on following rules to avoid anomaly in the name of emergency procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said, “Still the number of effective COVID-19 vaccines is extremely low, compared to the demand as the production and supply are limited. So, a worldwide competition is being noticed to get vaccines from the very beginning.”
Iftekharuzzaman questioned saying there are doubts on how the existing laws of the Drug Administration was followed during the rapid approval process of Covidshield vaccine.
“It is not clear whether there were rationales and considerations or what the process and policies were followed while taking the decision by the government to pay the cost and commission money to Beximco for directly purchasing the vaccine.”
“It’s contrary to the transparency of government procurement at any level,” he said.
“Though the government has planned to provide free vaccination to 80 per cent of people depending on its availability, people have no clear idea yet how the priority for recipients of the vaccines will be set,” the TIB executive director added.