Bangladesh hopes to get Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in January

Bangladesh is hopeful of receiving coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca in January, 2021.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque expressed the optimism on Wednesday in a virtual discussion event organised to celebrate Bangladesh’s success in Bloomberg’s COVID-19 resilience ranking.

"The first batch of Oxford vaccine was expected to arrive in Bangladesh at the end of January or early February. But we are expecting to get them earlier as the vaccine secured authorisation in the UK."

"The preparation for transporting the vaccine in Bangladesh is almost over," Maleque added.

Britain became the first country in the world to approve the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as it battles a major winter surge driven by a new, highly contagious variant of the virus.

"The UK has already approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. India and the World Health Organisation are also set to approve the vaccine. The Serum Institute of India has assured us of providing the vaccine at the end of January or before that," Maleque said.

"Bangladesh has proved its ability in preventing coronavirus disease. That's why the country has climbed four spots into the top 20 of Bloomberg’s latest monthly COVID-19 resilience rankings," the minister added.