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Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine

BD seeks delivery of 4m doses from US soon

Published : Friday, 7 May, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 445

Bangladesh has sought US support to continue the inoculation programme with Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as the US is planning to share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with other countries as they become available.
"The government has sought immediate delivery of 4 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the United States," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told the reporters after his meeting with US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday morning.
Bangladesh temporarily suspends fresh rounds of vaccination using the first dose of the Covishield vaccine that it had purchased from the Serum Institute of India. Government takes the path after weeks of uncertainty about continued supply of the vaccine by Serum following the
devastating second wave in India.
"We've sought immediate release of four million doses of vaccine (in a letter sent to the US)," the Foreign Minister told reporters, adding that he, however, sought a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine from the US.
"Government wants to continue the inoculation programme with vaccines from alternative sources," Dr Momen said.
The US will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with other countries as they become available.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today said the government has sought immediate delivery of 4 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the United States.
The US will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with other countries as they become available.
Earlier, Director General ABM Khurshed Alam of the Directorate General of Health Services of Bangladesh said in an official circular the move will nevertheless allow it to complete the process for those who have already received the first dose. Bangladesh has been waiting for 2 million Covishield doses but has not received it despite repeated reminders. Sunday's announcement shows that Bangladesh is unable to begin fresh rounds.
"We've sought immediate release of four million doses of vaccine (in a letter sent to the US)," he told reporters, adding that Momen, however, sought a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine from the US.
A total of 5,568,703 first doses have been administered in Bangladesh. As a result, altogether 11,137,406 doses are required for those who have already received first doses, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
He asked the US Ambassador whether they provided any vaccine to India. In reply, Ambassador Miller said they have provided no vaccine to India yet.
The Foreign Minister said the US government needs permission from the Food and Drug Administration to export vaccines which is a time-consuming process. "But we need it immediately."
Bangladesh has so far received 10.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from India, including 7 million doses in official shipments and 3.2 million doses as gifts.
To manage the shortage of nearly a million doses, the government has started talks with UK, EU countries and USA, however, to procure vaccines from alternative sources it has also started talks with China, Russia and other countries through Foreign Ministry.
On April 8, Bangladesh started administering the second dose of coronavirus vaccine while continuing to give the first shot to citizens who have registered.
Initially it was decided that the second dose would be provided four weeks after inoculating with the first dose, later the gap was changed to eight weeks.
The Word Health Organization on February 10 suggested an interval of 8-12 weeks between doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.








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