Bangladesh authorises emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine

The Directorate General of Drug Administration has authorised emergency use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to be imported from the Serum Institute of India.

Maj Gen Md Mahbubur Rahman, the director general of DGDA, confirmed the development to bdnews24.com on Thursday, saying that there will be no restrictions on administering the vaccines once the doses arrive.

The DGDA had earlier approved the import of the vaccine for emergency use to cut short the time needed to bring the vaccines, he clarified.    

The authorisation of the vaccine came following the recommendation of a 14-strong Public Health Emergency Committee, he said.

It analysed the data from clinical trials to determine whether to register the vaccine or give emergency use authorisation.

The DGDA issued a no-objection certificate or NOC to the import of the vaccine on Monday, clearing the way for Beximco Pharmaceuticals to ship in the drug to the country.

Beximco Pharma, the sole distributor of the vaccine in Bangladesh, submitted on Dec 31 the documents required for permission to import the vaccine from India.

Bangladesh has a deal with Serum Institute of India for 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. According to the contract, Serum Institute will send five million doses a month.

Hopes for Bangladesh receiving the vaccine doses soon were boosted after India’s regulators approved the emergency use of the vaccine on Sunday.

Nazmul Hassan, the managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals, has said the first consignment of the vaccine would arrive in Bangladesh within a month of receiving the government's approval, as per its agreement with Serum Institute.