India formally hands over COVID vaccine gift to Bangladesh

India has officially handed over a consignment of around 2 million coronavirus vaccine doses meant as a gift to Bangladesh.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 Jan 2021, 05:56 AM
Updated : 21 Jan 2021, 12:10 PM

An Air India flight carrying the vaccine shots landed in Dhaka around 11:15 am Thursday.

It was then transported to the state guest house Padma, where Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque formally received the 'gift' from Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami during a handover ceremony in the afternoon.

Health officials are now planning to kick off the inoculation programme after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India.

The development comes as a silver lining for the country amid a year of gloom due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at the ceremony, Doraiswami said the vaccine have been delivered within a week of its roll-out in India in line with the discussions held during the virtual summit between the prime ministers of the two countries.

As part of its 'Neighborhood First Policy', India accords high priority to its relations with Bangladesh, according to the High Commissioner.

 

The consignment of 2 million 'Covishield' shots, purchased by the Indian government from its own quota for gifting, is the biggest such dispatch by the South Asian nation to any of its neighbouring countries, Doraiswami added.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Momen and Health Minister Maleque expressed hope that the two countries would defeat the pandemic through such joint efforts and continue to partner for the benefit of the people.

Bangladesh has also purchased 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, from Serum Institute of India. The first shipment of imported doses -- five million – is expected to arrive in Dhaka by Jan 25.

Although Bangladesh initially planned to begin the vaccination drive towards the start of February, authorities now want to fast-track inoculations due to the early arrival of the free doses.

Health Secretary Md Abdul Mannan has indicated that the drives may begin on Jan 27 or 28.