Bangladesh to discuss Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine trial with India

Dhaka is set to discuss the trial of Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine, millions of doses of which will be produced by India’s Serum Institute if successful in tests, in Bangladesh.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told the media on Tuesday that he would make the offer in his meeting with his visiting Indian counterpart Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday.

Momen said Bangladesh also communicated with Britain’s AstraZeneca via the High Commission in London with the offer for the trial to be held in Bangladesh.

Developed in collaboration with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, Oxford University’s vaccine candidate is leading the race for a vaccine seen as the only viable option to get the world out of the coronavirus pandemic.

The vaccine is undergoing final stage trials in different countries. Serum Institute is also set to begin trials of the vaccine in India this week, the country’s media reported.

Bangladesh, with 282,344 coronavirus cases and 3,740 deaths from the disease, is also trying different ways to secure a vaccine.

The Bangladesh Medical Research Council recently approved late stage trial of a vaccine candidate developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd, but the government has delayed a decision on the issue due to its sensitivity.

“Different vaccine producers in India are dealing with the commercial sides of the vaccine. This is the reason driving our efforts. We are in discussion with different countries that have developed vaccines, be it the Americans or Oxford,” Masud said.

“They are trialling the vaccines in India. We will have the discussion [with India] as part of our efforts to get quick access to all of those. We will discuss how we can cooperate with all,” he said.

The government will go for the vaccine that will appear as the safest and most efficient, the foreign secretary added.

He refused to call Shringla’s visit “sudden” amid speculations about the topics to be discussed during the tour. “We have huge interactions at foreign secretary and different other levels because India is our important neighbour,” Masud said.

“These [interactions] have decreased due to COVID-19. He [Shringla] has arrived and we expect him to meet the honourable prime minister [Sheikh Hasina]. We will meet tomorrow,” he said.

They will discuss ways to strengthen ties. “They initially sent some goods to help us. Now we know that they are developing vaccine there. So we can update each other about our conditions,” Masud said.

Many “good things” have happened since Shringla last visited Dhaka in March, Masud said, mentioning progress in transhipment and trade through railways. “We will discuss these and what we can do in future,” he said.

Bangladesh will also seek an update on the rehabilitation of the Rohingya in Myanmar. Myanmar has implemented a project to rehabilitate the displaced people with India’s support in the Rakhine state.

Asked if Shringla’s visit is related to recent reports on Bangladesh’s relations with India, Pakistan and China, Masud asked the media to stop speculating.

“But we will discuss the speculative reports [to ensure] that we don’t find these credible. We will discourage such reports,” he said.

“We have deeply rooted ties. We need to nurture the ties all the time to leave no room for misunderstanding,” the foreign secretary said.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a statement that Shringla, a former high commissioner to Bangladesh, has come to “discuss issues of mutual interests and take forward bilateral cooperation.”