Maj. Gen. Mahbubur Rahman, director-general of the Department of Medicine Administration in Bangladesh, said they had approved the emergency use of the Chinese vaccine Sinofarm that the vaccine will be manufactured in the country very soon.
“They have already donated 500,000 doses. We will probably get it in half a week. Then we will follow the purchase rules and start the procurement process as required,” he said in a briefing on the vaccine on Thursday.
Mr. Rahman said three companies in Bangladesh have the capacity to make vaccines and these are Incepta, Health Care, and Popular Pharmaceuticals.
“Initially, the Incepta will be contacted. The Chinese and Russians will come and see. They will do the assessment. Then there will be an agreement between them for vaccine production. Incepta alone has the capacity to produce 8 million vaccines per month.”
He also said that after the arrival of the Chinese vaccine, it will be applied to one thousand people and its safety and related issues will be monitored.
In response to a question, he said that 13 crore people in the country need to be vaccinated. In addition to the vaccines of Oxford, Sputnik V, Chinese vaccines, as well as Covax and some vaccines will be available from Pfizer.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister Zahid Malek, while addressing a function, said that any company in Bangladesh would be allowed to produce vaccines from Russia and China.
