The government has taken moves to vaccinate the outgoing migrant workers on a priority basis, a top official said.

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Dr Ahmed Munirus Saleheen told the Business Insider Bangladesh that the authorities would call the outgoing workers for Covid-19 vaccine registration soon on a dedicated online app.

He said they are now waiting for the arrival of jabs the government is importing from different countries.

“With the availability of the shots, the outgoing migrant workers will be vaccinated under a special quota system,” the official said on Friday.

“We have requested the Ministry of Health to ensure vaccination for the migrants on a priority basis. Many migrant-sending countries are now taking such an initiative,” he informed, adding that the government agency took the matter with due importance.

The health ministry and other concerned government bodies have been working to ensure vaccines for the remittance heroes, the officials said.

Thousands of outgoing migrants have remained stuck at homes as all of the destination countries, except Saudia Arabia, kept overseas-travel restricted in the last few months to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Saudi Arabia allows migrant workers entry on the condition of ensuring mandatory quarantine on arrival at their own costs.

The overseas employment ministry provides financial support of Tk 25,000 to each Saudi-bound worker for meeting the cost.

Recruiting Agency Oikya Parishad President Tipu Sultan told Business Insider Bangladesh that the government’s previous decision to vaccinate the migrants with AstraZeneca jabs from India had not become visible to people.

“So, our request is to ensure vaccination for the outgoing migrants as the top priority,” he said, suggesting that the government could consider importing Johnson & Johnson produced vaccines which require a single dose for each.

Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme Chairman Shakirul Islam urged the government to take a ‘special programme’ immediately for vaccinating the migrant workers.

The workers are the real heroes who keep the country’s economy vibrant, he told the Business Insider Bangladesh.

WARBE Development Foundation director Jasiya Khatoon said there are no alternatives to vaccinate the migrant workers to save the country’s economy.

“We request the government to vaccinate them against the deadly virus as early as possible,” she said.

Bangladesh is one of the prominent migrant workers-sending countries in the world.

Usually, more than 500,000 workers from Bangladesh migrate to overseas destinations every year.

The country annually receives over $18 billion in remittance from their earnings.

Since 1976, by the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), about 1.3 crore workers from Bangladesh have crossed the border to work in 170 countries across the world.