DHAKA, Jan 4, 2020 (BSS) – Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque today said Bangladesh will get COVID-19 vaccine doses in time as the country signed an agreement with the Serum Institute of India.
“Under the agreement, Bangladesh government will get three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India,” he told a press conference at his ministry here, an official release said.
On December 13, the agreement was signed for collecting three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
Secretary of the Health Service Division Md Abdul Mannan, Secretary of Health Education Division Md Ali Noor Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, Director General of Directorate General of Drug Administration Maj Gen Md. Mahbubur Rahman and Director General of Directorate of Family Planning Sahan Ara Banu, among others, were present at the press conference.
Maleque said, “We have to wait for approval of WHO (World Health Organization) for application of COVID-19 vaccines on human body…All necessary preparations have been made for preserving coronavirus vaccines.”
As per the agreement, the Indian government will provide COVID-19 vaccine doses through the Serum Institute of India, he said adding, so, there is no reason to be worried about getting COVID-19 vaccines in time.
Mannan said the Indian government has imposed restriction on sending COVID-19 vaccines for commercial purpose. The agreement between Bangladesh government and the Serum Institute of India will remain out of this restriction, he added.
According to the health ministry, Bangladesh will collect five to six crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, by June next year.
Recently, the UK government has given approval to COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
On November 5, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for collecting these three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. The MoU was signed among the Bangladesh Government, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BPL) and the Serum Institute of India (SII).
The health ministry sources said 1.5 crore people will be administered by these three crore vaccine doses. As each person needs to be vaccinated twice they said, adding 50 lakh people in the country will be administered per month.