Covid-19 vaccine registration app Surokkha on Google Play by February 4

The Surokkha app, developed to help people register to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh, will be made available on Google Play by February 4.

Sharing the development with reporters in Dhaka on Sunday, DGHS Director General Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said: "We have been informed that the Android version of the app will be available on Google Play within February 4."

Meanwhile, vaccine registration website www.surokkha.gov.bd is open to the public, since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on January 27 inaugurated the vaccination campaign.

On Saturday, officials concerned said the app would be available on the Android store after it passes the review stage, which could happen any time within the next four days.

The app has also been made for iOS devices, but authorities are awaiting feedback on the Google Play version before submitting it to the Apple App Store.

Also Read - Covid-19 vaccine registration site now open

Khurshid also on Sunday said that Beximco will deliver the allotted doses of the Covid-19 vaccine across the country by Sunday or Monday.

However, officials at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the vaccines will be delivered to 61 districts — except Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Gazipur — in a day or two.

Bangladesh received the first lot of the purchased 5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) on January 25. 

On November 5 last year, the Bangladesh government, SII, and Beximco had signed a tripartite agreement to import the vaccine developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

On January 26 this year, the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) cleared use of the first shipment of the vaccine.

On January 21, Bangladesh received 2 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a gift from the Indian government. That was the first ever consignment of vaccines which arrived in Bangladesh.