China to send 6 lakh more Sinopharm vaccine doses

China would provide Bangladesh 600,000 more doses of the Sinopharm vaccine as a gift, according to the embassy of the country in Dhaka.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi conveyed the decision of sending 6,00,000 doses of the vaccine when his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen talked to him on the phone from Dhaka, the Chinese embassy said in a press release.

The foreign ministry is likely to facilitate Bangladesh Airforce to carry the  cargo from China, a diplomat said. This consignment would be in addition to 5,00,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine provided by China to Bangladesh as a gift in the second week of May.

Foreign minister Momen also requested Wang Yi for ensuring an expedited supply of the vaccines under the procurement deals the two sides were processing.

He also requested Wang Yi to encourage Chinese companies for engaging in Bangladesh for producing Coronavirus vaccines under joint ventures.

Momen made the phone call to China after becoming critical of dealings of the health ministry in finalising agreements with the country on procuring vaccines amid the shortage at home.

The health ministry did a ‘lousy job’ in processing agreements with China, he told journalists on Thursday.

In spite of a provision for putting in signatures in all pages of a bilingual document, the health ministry officials signed only pages comprising Chinese language text of an agreement, he said.

However, the foreign ministry took corrective measures in consultations with a Chinese language professor, he said.

The Bangladesh side sent two of the three agreements so far for facilitating the vaccine purchase from China, he said.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/138399/china-to-send-6-lakh-more-sinopharm-vaccine-doses