Staff Reporter :
The Bangladesh government would spend around $6.25 for every dosage of vaccine for the ones acquired from Serum Institute of India.
The spending would include the prices of dose, its transportation to the fixed storage of the government, local transportations, and other expenses to administer the vaccine.
The Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Zahid Maleque, disclosed the matter while talking to journalists after attending an information dissemination program organized by the Disease Control Unit of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Dhaka on Sunday.
While talking about the expenses, the minister said: “We have to spend $5 to bring the vaccine to the country. Then there are other estimates of $1 or $1.25, as local expense, to transport the vaccine and administer it to the people. It might take $6.25 for each dose.”
The vaccine would arrive in six installments – 5 million in every month – and the government would provide doses to 2.5 million people in the first month, as one person has to be given two doses, he added.
It means the government has to spend more than Tk500 to administer each dose. According to the ministry, the dosage would be provided for free.
Earlier, he said they have completed a contract with Serum Institute of India, the vaccine giant of India who are producing the Oxford and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine. They have initially ordered 30 million vaccines.
“We will receive the vaccines in January if the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the vaccine this month or in early January,” he said adding that there is also the issue of approval from DGHS as well.
According to reports from India national online portal, while speaking at the Economic Times Global Business Summit on Sunday, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said the Covid-19 vaccination drive may begin by January 2021 in India as his company is hoping to get emergency-use authorization by December end.
Bangladesh earlier signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Serum Institute of India on November 5.
We have started taking all the preparation including storage of the vaccine, its transport, providing training to the required people, he added.
Asked about their measures if any side-effects emerged, he said during the trial no side-effects were observed and that led them to buy these vaccines.
“The food habits, environment, and culture of these two countries [Bangladesh and India] are near similar, hence, it is a good option,” the minister explained.
The minister said they would ask for more vaccines from Serum Institute of India, and if they cannot provide the required number of vaccines, the government will acquire them from other companies.
