Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh has approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by the Oxford-AstraZeneca for emergency inoculation of local population.
The Drug Administration authorised use of two full doses of the Oxford vaccine on Monday evening amid uncertainty over its import from Serum Institute of India (SII).
On Sunday the head of Serum Institute of India (SII), which has been contracted to make 1 billion doses of the vaccine for developing nations, said, India will not allow the export of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for several months.
The ban on exports, however, means that Bangladesh will probably have to wait a few months before receiving the first shots.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday cleared the confusion about timely delivery of COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh saying it will get vaccine from India timely.
“Decision has been taken at the highest level and that would be implemented. Nobody has to worry or get panicked,” he told reporters sharing the updates they received from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Dr Momen said they talked to the Indian External Affairs Ministry and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka once they came to know about a media report.
He said Bangladesh and India will get the vaccine at the same time. “Bangladesh must not be concerned as commitment has been made at the highest level. Nothing to worry.”
The Foreign Minister said the regulatory process on vaccine approval in Bangladesh remains pending which will be done soon.
Responding to a question on when vaccine will be available, Dr Momen hoped to get it by this month.
In November, Bangladesh signed an agreement with the SII and Beximco Pharma to avail 30 million doses of the vaccine.
In the initial six months of the first phase, SII is supposed to provide five million vaccine doses per month to Bangladesh through Beximco.
On the other hand, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 will arrive in Bangladesh as planned, regardless of what Indian authorities decide on the drug’s export.
Health Secretary Abdul Mannan said the vaccine would arrive in Bangladesh by February, subject to approval from the World Health Organisation as per the contract.
Minister Maleque and Secretary Mannan spoke about the matter after a meeting regarding the vaccine at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Monday.
Hopes for Bangladesh of receiving the vaccine doses soon were boosted after India’s regulators approved the emergency use of the vaccine on Sunday.
Maleque had earlier insisted that the first shipment of vaccine doses would reach Bangladesh by January.
Serum Institute of India, the Indian maker of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine, said on Sunday it intends to concentrate on meeting India’s own immediate demand in the next two months before exporting to other interested countries.
That raised questions over whether the drug’s arrival in Bangladesh would be delayed.
Serum Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said in an interview with Reuters after the shot was approved for emergency use in the world’s second-most populous country, that exports might be possible after supplying the Indian government with an initial 100 million doses.
Minister Maleque said: “We’ve been working on this matter since morning. Discussions were held with Beximco, the Foreign Ministry and the Indian mission [in Dhaka]. They’ve assured us that it would not disrupt our agreement. There will be no issues. We are continuing the discussions.”
Rabbur Reza, Chief Operating Officer of Beximco Pharma, also ruled out uncertainty over the arrival of the drug.
“As per our contract with Serum Institute, we will receive vaccine doses from the first lot within a month after its approval in Bangladesh,” he said earlier on Monday.
“We’ve submitted all necessary documents to the Directorate General of Drug Administration on Thursday. We’ll apply for the approval today (Monday),” he added.
The experts said, the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine have made hope as this jab is low costly and easy to maintain. Developing country hoped that they will get it easily as the Serum Institute of India (SII) was responsible to produce and distribute in the third world country. But this bar will make difficulty to get vaccine of these countries.
It is unethical decision of the Indian authorities said the experts.
