With uncertainty looming over supply of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from India’s Serum Institute, Bangladesh on Wednesday approved the local manufacturing of China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, approved in principle the proposals for producing vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government has also decided to join five other South Asian countries in a multilateral effort to ensure vaccine supply among the countries. The China-led initiative, called “China-South Asia Platform for Covid-19 Consultation, Cooperation, and Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery”, had its first meeting held virtually with the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka taking part. Media reports said Dhaka is in talks with Beijing regarding the Sinopharm vaccine production. We will have an agreement with the Chinese company soon. As we know there is already an agreement with Russia over Sputnik V vaccine production. The government is also preparing to import 40 lakh doses of the Russian vaccine next month.
The developments emerged after nine months since China showed interest in Bangladesh’s participation in a vaccine trial. At that time, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla made a visit to Dhaka and Bangladesh’s interest in the trial of Chinese vaccine subsided as it opted for the Serum Institute’s AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dhaka then opted for a tripartite vaccine deal with India’s Serum Institute and paid for three crore doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be supplied in six months.
In Bangladesh some private sector drug makers — Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Pharmaceuticals — have the capacities to produce vaccines. Production will also be possible if the state-run Institute of Public Health — the oldest vaccine maker in South Asia — is modernised.
We express our view strongly that we should be most reluctant to use vaccines not approved by the World Health Organisation.
