5 lakh doses of Chinese vaccine reach Dhaka

The consignment of five lakh doses of the Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, gifted by the government of China, has reached Dhaka on Wednesday morning.

The C-130J flight of the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) landed with the lot at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport today around 5.35 am.

Earlier yesterday, a special cargo aircraft left the country to bring home the doses of 5 lakh doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine after the Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming officially announced the consignment as a "special gift".

He said, "It's the latest outcome of China-Bangladesh anti-pandemic cooperation which again shows that our two peoples are in the same boat and we will stand with each other till the end of this battle."
On 29 April, the Department of Drug Administration gave urgent approval to the Chinese vaccine Sinovac in the country.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government wrote a "letter of interest" to China proposing to buy four-five crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine by December.

"We have made a special request to China, so they phase out a plan for the vaccine delivery starting from June/July instead of December," said Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, adding, "A vaccine layout can be planned only after getting the Chinese government's response to the proposal."