By Grace Audu (HEALTH CORRESPONDENT)
Bangladesh’s health ministry spokesman, Maidul Islam Prodhan, said on Friday that the government has received a new batch of five million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China.
According to Prodhan, a jet carrying the vaccination from Biman Bangladesh Airlines arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday.
“Bangladesh received five million and 5.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s pharmaceutical Sinopharm Group on September 18 and 11, respectively.
“Thanks to China’s ongoing vaccine support, Bangladesh’s vaccination effort is currently running successfully in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere.
“To fight the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases, Bangladesh has reached an agreement with the Chinese side on co-production of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine locally.
“Bangladesh launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive in January to contain the pandemic that has spread across the south Asian country,” he said.
The spokesman said that the country halted administering the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine after India banned vaccine exports.
He said that the vaccination drive resumed in parts of the country in June with the China-donated Sinopharm vaccine.
(Xinhua)