Serum Institute of India will refund money if it cannot supply vaccine: finance minister

The Serum Institute of India will refund the advanced payment made by the government of Bangladesh for the coronavirus vaccine if the company fails to supply the promised doses, the finance minister has said.

The deal with Serum, according to which Beximco Pharmaceuticals is the sole distributor of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine in Bangladesh, was done following international rules, AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters on Wednesday.

“We don’t want to give up the hope of getting the doses. It’s still not certain that the vaccine won’t come. They will give back the money if they can’t supply the doses. No country swindles money from another country,” he said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.

The government signed the tri-partite deal for 30 million doses of the vaccine in November last year and paid more than Tk 6 billion, or half the total price, in advance in January this year.

Under the deal, Bangladesh was supposed to get five million doses per month, but India halted export due to a crisis in the country over a devastating second wave of infections.

Bangladesh has received 10.2 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, including about 3.2 million doses as gift in two phases from India. The vaccination drive began in Bangladesh on Feb 7, but the export ban by India forced the government to stop giving citizens first doses.

Beximco said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange last week that it is anticipating “some delays” in vaccine supplies as Serum was unable to make its planned monthly deliveries.

Beximco Pharma “does not anticipate that SII will be able to supply all of the remaining 23 million doses before the planned date at the end of June 2021”, according to the filing.

Asked whether Serum will have to pay fines if it fails to supply the vaccine in time, the finance minister said, “The deal was done following international rules. Everything will happen as per the rule.”