Bangladesh receives 12 lakh vaccine doses from India as gift

Bangladesh has received a consignment of 12 lakh more doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine gifted by neighbouring India.

A special flight carrying 12 lakh doses of coronavirus or Covid-19 vaccine landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 1.45pm on Friday, said sources at DGHS.

Later, the vaccines were taken to district EPI store in Tejgaon of Dhaka.

The vaccine doses came at a time when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Bangladesh on a two-day official visit to attend the golden jubilee of independence of Bangladesh and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Indian government earlier gave 20 lakh doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh as gift in January.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has signed a tripartite agreement with Serum Institute of India in order to purchase 3 crore doses of coronavirus vaccine in phases.

As part of the agreement, Bangladesh received first consignment of 50 lakh doses of the AstrZeneca vaccine on January 25. Later, it also received 20 lakh doses of vaccine in the second consignment on February 23.

The nationwide vaccination drive started on February 7 after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the vaccination programme in the end of January.

The country is likely to start giving second dose of the vaccine from April 8, the DGHS sources added.