Bangladesh to receive 2 million doses of Covid19 vaccine from India as a gift
India set to gift 2 million doses of the vaccine to Bangladesh on January 20, 2021. A day before, Health Minister Zahid Maleque had mentioned “vaccine as a gift” but he did not reveal any details.
Health ministry officials of Bangladesh said India’s Ministry of External Affairs had got in touch with the foreign ministry to send the vaccine doses. The high commission also sent a letter on Monday. The ruling Awami League party too posted on Twitter that Bangladesh is set to get two million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which would be in addition to 30 million doses that the government has contracted for with the Serum Institute of India.
“At this moment, I cannot say how many doses will arrive but the number is pretty high. The shipment will arrive anytime soon. I don’t want to mention a specific date yet, as it is a matter between the two nations,” Maleque said.
The Foreign Ministry said on it’s facebook page that “Bangladesh will receive 20 lakh doses of Oxford-Astrazenca Covid-19 vaccines (Covishield) from India as a gift on 20 January”.
Many countries are in talks with the Serum Institute of India or Bharat Biotech like Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco for obtaining the vaccine.
