Bangladesh expected to get second COVID vaccine batch from India on Feb 22

The second batch of COVID vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India is expected to arrive in Dhaka on Feb 22.

Speaking to reporters after taking his first dose at Kurmitola General Hospital on Monday, Nazmul Hassan, managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals, said the doses will continue to arrive every month like this.

“The second consignment will arrive this month. I had earlier put the date between Feb 21 and 25. Now I hope they will arrive on Feb 22,” he said.

Serum, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, is supplying 30 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, to Bangladesh.

Besides two million doses as gift from the Indian government, Serum sent five million doses last month in the first batch of the import.

Bangladesh gave the first doses to more than 900,000 people until Sunday after cutting the target to vaccinate six million people in the first month to 3.5 million.

People need to take two doses of the Oxford vaccine, COVISHIELD, with a booster shot eight to 12 weeks after the first. 

Nazmul said the second consignment will be smaller, of two to three million doses, although officials had earlier said Bangladesh would receive five million doses per month. “There won’t be any vaccine shortage.”

Nazmul thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, saying it would not be possible for Bangladesh to get the vaccine early without her “farsighted decision”.

“I feel lucky to have my vaccine,” he said.

Beximco Pharma, the sole distributor of the vaccine in Bangladesh, had planned to bring a separate shipment from the Serum Institute for private sale, but the company halted the plan because Bangladesh received enough shots trough the government channel, Nazmul said.

Besides the doses purchased from Serum, Bangladesh is expected to get around 12.8 million COVISHIELD doses in the first half of 2021 under COVAX, the World Health Organization-led scheme.