On 5th November 2020, the Government of Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Beximco Pharmaceutical Limited (BPL), Bangladesh and the Serum Institute of India (SII) for the supply and distribution of 3 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine ‘AZD1222’ in Bangladesh. The AZD1222 vaccine is at the final stage of development at the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
AZD1222:
i.AZD1222 is the COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca formerly known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is made from a virus – ChAdOx1, a weakened version of the common cold virus (Adenovirus).
ii.Genetic material, which is used to make proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus called Spike glycoprotein (S) is added to the ChAdOx1 construct.
Supply and Distribution of AZD1222:
i.SII, licensed by AstraZeneca to manufacture AZD1222 and the entire quantity of vaccines will be delivered within 6 months.
ii.BPL is the distributor of AZD1222 in Bangladesh and it is also responsible for the maintenance of cold chain, import, storage and delivery of vaccines to the warehouses of the Government of Bangladesh.
Key People:
Zahid Maleque, Health Minister of Bangladesh and Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh along with senior officials of the Health Ministry of Bangladesh and officials of SII and BPL were present on the occasion.
Key Points:
i.BPL has also agreed to import an additional 1 million doses of AZD1222 vaccine from SII for sale and distribution to the private pay market in Bangladesh.
ii.A formal purchase agreement will be signed within 30 days.
Recent Related News:
On May 20, 2020 India & Bangladesh signed the 2nd Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade in Dhaka. Under this pact- Increased 5 more ports of call from earlier 6(Total- 11) & extended 2 ports of call in each country; 2 new Indo Bangladesh Protocol(IBP) routes (from 8 to 10) & new locations are also added to the existing routes to facilitate the trade between two countries It was signed by the High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh, Riva Ganguly Das, and Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury.
About SII:
Chairman and Managing Director– Cyrus S. Poonawalla
CEO– Adar C. Poonawalla
Headquarters– Pune, Maharashtra
About Bangladesh:
Prime Minister-Sheikh Hasina
President- Abdul Hamid
Capital– Dhaka
Currency– Bangladeshi Taka
