March 28, 2024, 5:45 pm


Staff Correspondent

Published:
2021-07-04 02:32:29 BdST

45 lakh doses of Moderna, Sinopharm vaccines arrive


Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Friday night received the first of the two consignments of 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine, received from the United States under the COVAX framework in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Malik, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller, Senior Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Senior Secretary of Health Services Division Lokman Hossain Miah, and other high officials of Bangladesh Government were also present.

The second consignment of 1.2 million doses of Moderna vaccines reached Dhaka at 8:45 am on Saturday.

These 2.5 million vaccine doses are part of US Government’s recent allocation of 25 million vaccine doses for countries in Asia.

The arrival of the vaccine doses is just the beginning as the US understands the urgency to supply vaccine as quickly as possible, says Ambassador Miller.

Miller said the US shared these vaccines with the singular objective of saving lives. “This is a gift, at no cost, from the American people,” he said.

Noting that the US has been Bangladesh’s closest partner for the past five decades and working to improve public health, Miller said, “today, at this uniquely challenging moment in history, our partnership is more important than ever”.

He said that his country is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts as it has in the US. “When we have the capacity, we have the will, and we step up and we deliver,” Miller said.

The Foreign Minister, Health Minister and high officials of Bangladesh Government also received the first batch of 2 million Sinopharm vaccine doses purchased from China by Bangladesh Government, which also arrived in the airport around midnight.

The vaccine consignments have been reaching here as good news for Bangladesh as Dhaka has been desperately looking for vaccines to inoculate huge numbers of people.

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