Bangladesh begins talks with China to buy Sinovac vaccine.

Shahidul Islam Chowdhury writes:

The government has launched a negotiation with the Chinese authorities to procure the Sinovac Covid vaccine while continuing talks on buying the Sinopharm vaccine from the country.
‘Discussion on procurement of Sinovac vaccine has begun as there is no problem in bringing in the vaccine after the emergency use authorisation,’ foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen told New Age on Tuesday.

When asked about the removal of obstacles created on buying 1.5 crore doses of Sinopharm vaccine, he said negotiations are on and ‘the ball is in their court.’
The government would airlift six lakh more doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China by June 13 by sending an aircraft carrier.

Mentioning that the talks with Russia on procuring one crore doses Sputnik V vaccine are in an advanced stage, he said that the two sides are likely to engage in a  second round of discussion next week.

The foreign secretary did not disclose the details of the talks stating that everyone should act responsibly for the greater interest of the people.
The government on Sunday provided approval for the emergency use of Chinese Covid vaccine after the World Health Organisation extended authorisation for using it for people aged above 18 years.
The Drug Administration has approved five Covid vaccines — Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinopharm, Sputnik V and Sinovac — so far for emergency use in the country.
Chinese ambassador to Dhaka Li Jiming on Wednesday said that discussion on commercial procurement of the Covid vaccine by Bangladesh from China was continuing.
A pragmatic discussion between Bangladesh and China for the production of vaccine jointly in Bangladesh was also ongoing, he said while speaking in a webinar titled Bangladesh-China Economic and Trade Relations that sought to probe the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Li said Beijing had already gifted some five lakh doses of vaccines to Dhaka and six lakh more doses were due on June 13.
Earlier, the government brought medical students under inoculation after getting a consignment of five lakh Sinopharm doses as a gift.
The government has opted for alternative sources of Covid vaccines after its inoculation campaign faltered due to the failure of the Serum Institute of India to deliver the agreed Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses.
Under a contract with the Bangladesh government, Serum is supposed to supply three crore doses of the vaccine to Bangladesh by June 2021, but the company stopped supplying in March after sending 70 lakh doses.

Administering of the second jab of Oxford-AstraZeneca to those who have received the first shot of the two-dose vaccine remains suspended due to its shortage in scores of inoculation centers in many districts of the country.
The government faced a setback in negotiations on importing Sinopharm vaccine as a senior government official disclosed the per unit price set for delivering to Bangladesh by the Chinese exporter.

Courtesy: The daily New Age, Bangladesh