India's 'gift' shipment of vaccine to Bangladesh to arrive on Jan 25-26

New Delhi, January 19: Bangladesh is to receive an unspecified quantity of novel coronavirus vaccine doses as a gift from India, according to Health Minister Zahid Maleque. Maleque said India may ship these doses to Bangladesh before the first lot of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. He did not mention the maker or the number of vaccine doses that will arrive.

 

 

“At this moment, I can’t 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 countries,” Maleque said at an event organised by Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday.

 

“We are staying informed on all fronts. Apart from Oxford, we are trying to bring in vaccines developed by others, including Pfizer and Moderna", he added. India plans to ship vaccines to neighbouring countries to help them meet the requirement with a focus on immediate neighbours, according to the Indian media.

 

The first destination would be in India’s immediate neighbours, like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives and Mauritius to help them kickstart their own vaccination processes. The first shipments would be a goodwill gesture, while subsequently, the countries concerned would get on a payment basis from either the Serum Institute or Bharat Biotech.

 

India began its COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday with about 190,000 people getting inoculated on the first day.