Dhaka, May 10 : Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Monday officially announced arrival of 5 lakh doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine on May 12.“It’s the latest outcome of China-Bangladesh anti-pandemic cooperation,” he said during an interaction with the members of Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) virtually.
DCAB President Pantho Rahaman and General Secretary AKM Moinuddin also spoke.
“China is dedicated to international vaccine cooperation,” said the Ambassador.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for this vaccine to be rolled out globally.
The Sinopharm vaccine is produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd, subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
Bangladesh has kept up its intensified efforts to get Oxford-AstraZeneca and China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines from India, China and the United States.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said there is nothing to be worried about availability of vaccines noting that the government will have enough vaccines soon from alternative sources.
“I believe we’ll have enough vaccines. No person should be worried about it. Vaccines will come timely and all will get it,” he said in a video message shared on his verified Facebook page.
The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh is much ahead of many countries in the world in procuring vaccines and launching vaccination drives across the country.
He said many European countries decided about which vaccine they should use just in April whereas in Bangladesh many people got vaccinated.
Apart from China and Russia, Dr Momen said, there is much possibility to get vaccines from the United States.
The Foreign Minister has recently written a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking vaccine doses from the US for immediate and long-term needs.
The government has sought immediate release of 2-4 million doses of vaccine from the United States (US) and a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine for the long term supply.
The US will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines vaccine with other countries as they become available.
Dr Momen said Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine showed over 97 percent efficacy while the Chinese vaccines were taken by 100 million people without any side effects.
Bangladesh has received 7 million of Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine doses produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) vaccines through its contract. Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift, reports UNB.
