COVAX
China pledges 2 billion vaccines globally through year’s end
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be supplied to the world through this year, increasing China’s commitment as the largest exporter of the shots.
Xi’s announcement was delivered at the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation, state media reported Wednesday, which China hosted virtually.
That figure likely includes the 770 million doses China has already donated or exported already since September last year, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most of the Chinese shots have been exported under bilateral deals. It is unclear if the figure also includes the agreements with the COVAX mechanism where two Chinese vaccine manufacturers will provide up to 550 million doses.
Xi also promised to donate $100 million to the UN-backed COVAX program, which aims to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday night.
Also read: China to continue providing vaccine aid to Bangladesh: Wang Yi
Vaccine distributions have been starkly unequal, as wealthy countries now consider issuing booster shots to their citizens and poorer nations struggle to get enough vaccines for a first dose.
“Over 4 billion vaccines have been administered globally, but more than 75% of those have gone to just 10 countries,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, at the vaccine forum.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese shots, the vast majority of which are from Sinopharm and Sinovac, have already been administered to people in many countries across the world, as many were desperate for access to any vaccine.
However the vaccines have been followed with questions and concerns, especially as the highly transmissible delta variant spread and caused the number of COVID-19 deaths to climb again.
In Indonesia, which has relied heavily on Sinovac’s shot, the government said it was planning boosters for health workers, using some of the newly delivered Moderna doses, after reports that some of the health workers who had died since June had been fully vaccinated with the Chinese shot.
Access to vaccines have not only been plagued by inequality, but also been dominated by geopolitics.
Also read: Bangladesh going to receive large Covid vaccine shipment from China soon
China has been accused of using vaccines as leverage in diplomatic dealings. In June, diplomats told The Associated Press that China threatened to withhold vaccines to pressure Ukraine into withdrawing from a statement calling for more scrutiny about how China was treating ethnic and religious minorities in the Xinjiang region.
President Joe Biden had made a point to say vaccine donations would come without “pressure for favors or potential concessions” when announcing U.S. donation plans in June.
The White House said Tuesday the U.S. had donated 110 million doses, most of which was through COVAX coordinated by Gavi, a vaccine alliance.
Japan has also stepped up its donations in the region, pledging 30 million doses of vaccine through COVAX and other channels. It has already donated several million vaccines through bilateral deals.
Taiwan was one such beneficiary of Japan’s aid, after the island faced an outbreak which stressed its health system in May and June. Taiwan had accused China, which claims the self-governing island as its own territory, of interfering in deals to buy the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Bangladesh to receive 34 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses next week: FM
Bangladesh will receive another consignment of 34 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine next week while 60 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine in the first week of September, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday.
Apart from that, Bangladesh will also receive 10 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine soon which is likely to come under the COVAX facility, he said.
“We’ve lined up well. We think we’re on the right track,” he told reporters at State guesthouse Padma after attending a function there.
Referring to the Health Ministry, Dr Momen said Bangladesh has a stock of 1.23 crore vaccine doses and some of the doses (AstraZeneca) will be kept for the second dose.
Read: No movement without vaccine will be allowed after Aug. 11: Minister
On coproduction of vaccine, he said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on coproduction of Sinopharm vaccine in Bangladesh will be signed at any moment.
The Law Ministry has already cleared it after vetting and it will be signed at any moment, said the Foreign Minister adding that “Everything is final.”
Dr Momen said the coproduction of vaccine doses in Bangladesh is essential. “I want the start of coproduction.”
Earlier, he said the MoU is with the Health Ministry and the Health Ministry should dispose of it very quickly.
Read: Vaccine coproduction deal with Sinopharm ready for signing: FM
Dr Momen said the government of Bangladesh, Sinopharm and a local company (Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd) will sign the agreement.
Incepta will bring in bulk and bottling, labeling and finishing of the vaccine will be done locally making the price relatively very cheap.
Asked whether there is any shift from the government plan to vaccinate 1 crore people each week, Dr Momen said it is their target as per the Health Ministry and hoped to vaccinate 8 crore people within two months.
Over 1.6 million AstraZeneca doses received from Japan
Bangladesh has so far received 1,643,300 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan with the arrival of the third consignment of 616,780 doses under the COVAX facility.
“Japan will provide 3 million (doses of AstraZeneca) in total to Bangladesh and so far dispatched 1,643,300 doses,” said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito after handing over the third consignment to Bangladesh.
The Ambassador said he is pleased that with the gift from the Japanese people, AstraZeneca’s second dose administering resumed on Monday.
Read: Third consignment of AstraZeneca jabs from Japan to reach Dhaka Tuesday
The Japanese government is providing the vaccine doses through the COVAX Facility to meet the urgent needs of the Bangladeshi people who have been long waiting for the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Bangladesh receives around 8 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday received the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan under the COVAX facility.
The second consignment contains 7,81,320 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
A cargo flight of Cathay Pacific that carried the vaccine doses from Japan landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:15 pm.
Senior Secretary to the Health Service Division Lokman Hossain Miah and Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh Ito Naoki were also present there.
"We're thankful to Japan. They've proved that they're real friend of all Bangladeshis," said Dr Momen after receiving the vaccine consignment.
He said Japan, may be in the future, would be providing more and more support to deal with the situation.
Dr Momen said Covid-19 is a big global problem and no country can resolve it alone.
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said vaccine should be a public good and ownership of its technology should be shared by all the countries.
Also read: Bangladesh receives 30 lakh Sinopharm vaccine jabs
The third consignment that will contain 6,16,780 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine is scheduled to arrive here on August 3.
The vaccine support is expected to contribute to the Bangladesh government's efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to save people’s lives in Bangladesh, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka.
Japan hoped that the vaccination of AstraZeneca will resume soon and reiterates that it will stand by Bangladesh in the fight against COVID-19 and will work together to suppress COVID-19 as soon as possible.
Bangladesh to receive 2nd consignment of Astrazeneca doses from Japan Saturday
Bangladesh will receive the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan under the COVAX facility on Saturday.
The consignment, being carried by All Nippon Airways (ANA), contains 7,81,320 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, raising the total jabs of the vaccine in Bangladesh to one million.
The flight left Narita Airport Terminal 1 at 22:40 hrs (JST). The delivery is part of Japan's announced commitment of supplying over 3.0 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in phases to Bangladesh under WHO-COVAX mechanism.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen received the first consignment of 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan on July 24.
Read: Bangladesh receives 30 lakh Sinopharm vaccine jabs
Bangladesh seeks US partnership in vaccine production
PM’s Adviser for Private Industry and Investment Salman F Rahman has sought the assistance from the US government to encourage their vaccine-producing companies to partner with capable pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh.
Recalling the two countries’ close cooperation in combating Covid-19 since the early days of the pandemic, Adviser Rahman stressed scaling up of the global production of the Covid-19 vaccines and other pandemic management equipment to tackle the virus.
He also stated that Bangladesh is ready to make necessary investments for the capacity enhancement of pharmaceutical companies for such partnerships.
Adviser Rahman and Senior Official for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment of the US Department of State Ambassador Marcia Bernicat discussed ways to have stronger collaboration on Covid-19 front.
Bangladesh and the US have expressed willingness to work more closely to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, including partnership, in vaccine production.
Read: Countries like Bangladesh need support for vaccine production: FM
Dhaka to receive 2.45 lakh AstraZeneca jabs from Tokyo Saturday
Some 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are scheduled to arrive here on Saturday from Japan.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will receive the vaccine doses that will come under COVAX facility.
A Cathay Pacific Airways flight will carry the vaccine doses that will land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the afternoon on the day.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki on Friday said Japan will provide in total 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh.
3 mn more Moderna vaccine jabs reach Bangladesh
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday night received three million doses of Moderna vaccine from the United States under COVAX facility as the government is trying to speed up the nationwide vaccination drive further.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, Charge d’ Affaires at US Embassy in Dhaka JoAnne Wagner, , Health Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah and other high officials of the government were also present to receive the vaccine doses.
Dr Momen thanked US President Joe Biden and his Administration for coming forward with the vaccines.
"It came at a time when we need it very badly. We're thankful to the US government for supporting us," he told reporters after receiving the vaccine consignment.
Dr Momen said COVID-19 is a global challenge and all need to work in partnership and in collaboration to face this challenge.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that vaccines should be public good and shared by all the countries without any discrimination.
Earlier, a special flight of Qatar Airways landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 9:06 pm carrying the vaccine doses.
Also read: 'It's just the beginning': US ambassador on Moderna shipment's arrival
Bangladesh already received the first consignment of 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine under the COVAX facility.
Bangladesh hopeful of receiving 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladesh is hopeful of receiving more vaccine doses this month from Japan, the European Union (EU) and the USA under COVAX facility apart from a steady flow of that from China.
“We’re in a good position now. I should say we’ve made a line up. I think there’ll be no vaccine crisis, and the vaccination programme will continue uninterruptedly,” he told a small group of reporters at his residence.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is expected to get around 2.5 million doses of vaccine from Japan while 1 million from the EU under the COVAX facility. “These’re likely to be AstraZeneca vaccine doses.”
The Foreign Minister said he talked to the Japanese Foreign Minister recently and Bangladesh mentioned about Japan’s vaccine supply to others.
Dr Momen said Japan will provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh, too but the exact quantity was not mentioned. But a big quantity of vaccine doses is expected to arrive this week or next week under the COVAX facility. “We expect it’ll be around 2.5 million doses.”
Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh recently got 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine doses from the USA under the COVAX facility. “US informed us that there’ll be more.”
He said the government has planned to bring vaccine doses from Sinopharm over the next three months as per the plan, and the first consignment of 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine has already arrived.
Read:Chinese firms working with Bangladeshi partners for vaccine co-production
COVAX: US welcomes shipment of 2.5mn vaccine doses to Bangladesh
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller has welcomed the arrival of 2.5 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh as a gift from American people delivered through COVAX.
The shipment of vaccine doses from the US was delivered on Friday night and Saturday morning through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, a global initiative to support equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque received the first consignment of the 2.5 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday night.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Health Secretary Lokman Hossain Mian also welcomed the arrival with Ambassador Miller.
Also read: 'It's just the beginning': US ambassador on Moderna shipment's arrival
The United States said it is committed to leading the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic and this summer, they will begin allocating the 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine it is providing to Gavi for distribution by COVAX to countries around the world.
This is the largest-ever purchase and donation of vaccines by a single country and a commitment by the American people to help protect people around the world from Covid-19, said the US Embassy in Dhaka on Saturday.
Read: Bangladesh receives 1st consignment of 2.5 million Moderna vaccine doses