UNB :
Bangladesh has sought at least 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada on an emergency basis to meet the emergency need of 1.6 million doses of the vaccine to provide second doses.
“This is at present a high priority for Bangladesh,” said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen during his meeting with Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Benoit Préfontaine on Tuesday.
Referring to recent statement of Canadian Procurement Minister Anita Anand that Canadian Government might distribute excess stockpiles of AstraZeneca vaccine among developing countries, Dr Momen urged the Canadian High Commissioner to pursue his Government so that Bangladesh receives AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada.
He also underscored that such supply of vaccine should be directly sent to Bangladesh, as has been done for some other countries like Pakistan, rather than through the COVAX programme of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The main point of discussion was on the possibility of receiving AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada to meet up immediate second dose vaccine requirements in Bangladesh.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh acted fast on collecting vaccine by concluding the agreement with the Serum Institute in India to procure 30 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and is now in a difficult situation as only 10.2 million doses of vaccine has been received from India.
He said the prospect of getting more is low due to the ongoing massive Covid-19 outbreak in India.
Dr Momen also proposed that Canada may help vaccinating forcibly displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh separately.
Foreign Minister Momen also apprised the Canadian High Commissioner of the Government’s efforts to acquire vaccine from some other countries including China, Russia and the US.
The Canadian High Commissioner assured that he will follow up with his government about Bangladesh’s request to provide 2 million doses of vaccine immediately, which is also being followed up with the Canadian Government by Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa.
