Bangladesh sends letter to USA for vaccine

The Bangladesh government has sent a letter to the US, seeking Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses as the fourth source.

Bangladesh in February started its mass immunisation programme solely relying on the Oxford vaccine manufactured at the Serum Institute of India. Due to the recent supply shortage, the first dose of inoculation has already been postponed while concerns grow over the second dose.

In the meantime, India has ruled out the possibility of any vaccine supply in the near future.

In the face of the shortage, the government is trying to bring the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from alternative sources to India as Bangladesh is now also in contact with China and Russia for vaccine supply.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said if the jabs are not available as a grant, Dhaka is willing to buy the vaccine from Washington.

“They [the United States] have not yet responded to our letter. But we are trying to get it from the United States,” said the foreign minister, but he did not mention how many doses Bangladesh has sought from the US.

“We sought vaccines from the US as they have a stock of 60 million doses. We would definitely welcome it,” Momen said.