Vaccine delivery: US actively considering Bangladesh’s request: Miller

The United States has said it is actively considering the request made by Bangladesh over supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses.

Bangladesh will get the reply to the letter sent to the US government within the next couple of days, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller conveyed this during his meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

Bangladesh will be able to know the updates once it receives the written reply.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said the government has sought immediate delivery of 4 million vaccine doses from the United States.

The US will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with other countries as they become available.

“We’ve sought immediate release of four million doses of vaccine (in a letter sent to the US),” he told reporters, adding that he, however, sought a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine from the US.

Dr Momen said the government wants to continue the vaccination programme collecting vaccines from alternative sources.

The Foreign Minister had a meeting with US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller at his office on Thursday.

Dr Momen asked the US Ambassador whether they provided any vaccine to India. In reply, Ambassador Miller said they have provided no vaccine to India yet.

The Foreign Minister said the US government needs permission from the Food and Drug Administration to export vaccines which is a time-consuming process. “But we need it immediately.”

Dr Momen said they have also written to Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar requesting for 3 million doses of vaccine to address Bangladesh's immediate need.

Bangladesh has received 7 million of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) through its contract.

Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift. This is the largest amount sent from India to any country.