Bangladesh government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Serum Institute of India (SII) to collect three crore doses of Covishield, the Indian version of Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine SARS-Cov-2 AZD 1222.
According to the agreement, SII will supply the vaccines in phases -- 50 lakh every month -- via its Bangladeshi counterpart Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
The MoU was signed Thursday afternoon at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's conference room in presence of health minister Zahid Maleque.
"We are signing this MoU under the condition that we will take it only if it is approved by the World Health Organization," Health Minister Zahid said in his speech after the signing ceremony.
"The doses will be given to 1.5 crore people in the country," he added.
He also said health workers, police, journalists and the elderly will be prioritised first while giving the vaccine among the general mass.
"Everyone won't get the vaccine at a time as it'll be distributed in groups. The country has all the preparations to fight the second wave of Covid-19," Zahid Maleque said.
According to sources, each dose of the vaccine will cost 5 US dollars. Two shots of the vaccine will be needed per person.
The process to bring Oxford/Astrazeneca Vaccine will start in January next, said Zahid adding that a decision was taken in principle that Serum Institute will provide the vaccine at the same price they would procure.
Earlier, Zahid Maleque on Sunday said discussions are underway with different countries for procuring Coronavirus vaccines once those are available.
"Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) will soon be signed with those companies that are currently in the advanced stage of vaccine production," he said.
