Uncertainty over Serum vaccine supply to Bangladesh grows

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Uncertainty over the COVID-19 vaccine supply to Bangladesh by Serum Institute of India has increased as the Indian manufacturer failed to supply the committed 50 lakh doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca-developed vaccine in March.

Serum has also kept Bangladesh authorities in dark about when and how many doses of the vaccine it will send in the next consignment although the country has a shortage of vaccine doses to continue its vaccination programme, including the beginning of the second dose administration on April 8.

The government has a purchase deal with Serum and its local vendor Beximco Pharma to get 3 crore doses — 50 lakh a month — of the vaccine by June.

The Indian firm has supplied so far 70 lakh doses — 50 lakh in January and 20 lakh in February — in two shipments with no doses arriving in March.

‘We do not know when the next shipment of the vaccine will arrive and how many doses will be there in the shipment, said Beximco Pharma chief operating officer Rabbur Reza.

‘We have no update available now from Serum,’ he told New Age on Thursday.

Bangladesh’s national vaccine deployment committee member-secretary Shamsul Islam, also Expanded Programme of Immunisation director, said that they were not being informed about the vaccine supply from Serum.

‘We are outlining the second dose administration plan but we do not have an adequate number of doses,’ he said on Thursday.

Bangladesh began the mass vaccination on February 7.

The country has so far secured 1.02 crore doses of the vaccine, including 32 lakh from the Indian government as a gift.

Until Thursday, 54.12 lakh people have received the first dose and 14 lakh more registered people are waiting to get the jab.

With the doses in hands, the second dose administration — eight weeks after the first dose — will begin on April 8, said Shamsul.

‘We have a shortage of doses but the government high-ups could tell how we could manage,’ he said.

India has reportedly put a temporary hold on all major exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured at Serum in a bid to meet the country’s local demand.

The reported Indian decision has come at a time when COVID-19 infections in Bangladesh are rising fast.

Bangladesh health officials said that they were not aware about any decision of India to ban the export of the vaccine.

Beximco’s Rabbur also said that Serum had not informed them about any such ban on the vaccine export.

Public health expert Be-Nazir Ahmed said that the government must give a statement before the nation about the vaccine supply from Serum, outlining whether there is any uncertainty and what would be the vaccination plan when the country has a shortage of doses.

New Age