India will prioritise neighbours for COVID vaccine: High Commissioner Doraiswami

High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami has said India is committed to prioritise its neighbours along with its people for vaccination against COVID-19.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 7 Jan 2021, 06:04 PM
Updated : 7 Jan 2021, 06:04 PM

He faced questions from journalists over the issue following a meeting with Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury in Dhaka on Thursday in the wake of reports that India had banned vaccine export for months to meet domestic demand.

Bangladesh has signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India for 30 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the UK’s University of Oxford and British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca.

Asked for a possible date of the arrival of the first batch of the vaccine in Bangladesh, Doraiswami said none of India’s health, commerce or drugs ministries had said that vaccine export has been banned.

Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been repeatedly saying that their vaccines “will be used for humanity”.

“Our priority is of course our own people and the neighbours. What more can we say for assurance?” he asked.

Several Indian companies have begun manufacturing the coronavirus vaccines and the country has given approval for emergency use of the doses, he said.

“The Indian government has not imposed any restrictions on vaccine exports,” the high commissioner said.

He also said the rest of the matter depends on the quantity of the doses the Indian firms can produce. “The more they can produce, the more they can export,” he said.

“The most important fact is our top leadership has given the assurance,” he added.

“Let the vaccine rollout begin. The companies have promised to give vaccines to the Indian government as well. Let them begin the production and distribution,” Doraiswami said.

Minister Saifuzzaman said they discussed many issues, including digitalisation of the land ministry and enhancing cooperation.