Bangladesh has received a new batch of five million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China, the country’s health ministry spokesman, Maidul Islam Prodhan, told Xinhua on Friday.
Prodhan said that a plane belonging to Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the vaccine arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday.
“On Sept. 18 and 11, Bangladesh, respectively, received five million and 5.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s pharmaceutical Sinopharm Group.
“Bangladesh’s vaccination drive is currently running smoothly in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere; thanks to China’s continued vaccine support.
“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/NAN)