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Beximco Pharmaceuticals is the ‘exclusive distributor’ of vaccines produced at the Serum Institute in Bangladesh. Beximco Pharmaceuticals will supply the government agreement to purchase the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine manufactured at the Serum Institute.
MP Nazmul Hasan attended a press conference at his Gulshan residence on Monday afternoon amid concerns over reports that India had “banned” the export of vaccines.
He said Bangladesh would receive the vaccine “in due time” under the agreement, adding that they had not received any indication of delay from the Seram Institute.
The coronavirus vaccine, jointly developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, is produced and marketed by the Serum Institute of India.
The government of Bangladesh signed an agreement with the Seram Institute of India and Beximco Pharmaceuticals on November 5 to purchase 30 million doses of the vaccine called Covishield. Under the agreement, the Seram Institute will ship 5 million doses of vaccine each month.
With the Indian pharmaceutical regulator approving the emergency use of Kovishield on Sunday, hopes for a rapid vaccine in Bangladesh have been raised.
But Adar Poonawala, executive director of the Seram Institute, later said in an interview that they would insist on meeting local demand from India for the next two months before exports could begin.
Based on his statement, an international news agency reported that India had “banned” the export of vaccines. The news raised fears that vaccines in Bangladesh could be delayed.
In this context, the Secretary of the Department of Health Services, Abdul Mannan, said at the press conference at noon: “I just (noon) called the Deputy High Commissioners of India. He told us that the agreement we made, … his financial transaction, how the money will go, how the bank will give a guarantee, all those things have been done by GTZ or the government to the government. The ban that has been mentioned, the government of India has said only about business activities, not about us. Because ours is from government to government. “
The journalists caught the attention of Beximco Pharmaceuticals CEO Nazmul Hasan in the afternoon with the secretary’s statement.
He replied: “It’s not about GTZ here. I don’t know This is the GTZ you’re talking about, what the health secretary said জানি I don’t know what vaccine he’s talking about. It could be another vaccine, the government could be with another company … I don’t know.
“Beximco Pharma is not a government here, nor is the Serum Institute. Very clear, then how can there be government to government here? It is a tripartite agreement.”
Beximco has no doubt that Bangladesh will receive the vaccine within the stipulated time.
Bangladesh ‘no problem’ with vaccines: Minister of Health
The chancellor also said there was no fear of vaccination.
Nazmul Hasan said his company also spoke with the Seram Institute on Monday. Bangladesh will be vaccinated under the agreement.
“We haven’t heard anything negative from them. I guess someone is doing something wrong. Nowhere is it said that it can’t be exported. I also heard the news.
“Honestly, neither I nor we are that worried about it. Because my deal is done. The agreement clearly states that vaccines will be shipped to us within a month of our approval. “
The managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals said: “I strongly believe that since the agreement has already been reached, there is no reason for it to be a problem.” Even today I have talked to Seram about this. We haven’t received any indication or anything from them that it is too late. “
Nazmul Hasan said the government now has two tasks, to approve the vaccine as soon as possible and to send money quickly. Beximco applied to the Drug Administration Department for approval on Monday.
“We have given our bank guarantee to the government. The government has to deliver it within a week after receiving the bank guarantee. Another is the registry, which will be provided by the Medication Administration Department. We have already sent the documents. I have officially applied today. “
At an afternoon press conference, Health Minister Zahid Malek said that the process of sending Rs 600 crore in advance for the three crore vaccines has already started.
“We have spoken with Beximco, the Foreign Ministry and the Indian mission,” he said. They assured that the agreement reached with us will not be affected. There will be no problem, we continue the discussion ”.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters in the afternoon: “We have received an update. The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed us that the bilateral agreement that India has made with us will be implemented.”
“They said that since the decision on vaccination was of the highest level, the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it was done. So there will be no ban. There is no reason to worry about that. They said that Bangladesh should not worry. “
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