Russia's Sputnik-V and China's Sinofarm vaccine have been approved by the government. The approval was given at the 14th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday afternoon.
After the meeting, the finance minister told reporters. AHM Mustafa Kamal said that Russia's Sputnik-V and China's Synopharm vaccine have been approved for production in the country. Companies that have the capacity will produce these vaccines.
However, the government's first priority is to get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India. Attempts will be made to get the vaccine from Seram Institute along with the production efforts. Health Minister Zahid Malek said at the meeting that several companies in the country have the capacity to produce the vaccine.
They will be approved for production. At the end of the meeting, Additional Secretary of the Cabinet. Shahida Akhter said the final approval has been given as per the advice of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19.
After submitting the proposal, the cost of vaccine production will be known. Answering a question, he said that China has allowed their vaccine to be produced in Bangladesh.
Production will begin as soon as possible. The meeting also approved the purchase of PPE, masks, PCR kits through direct purchase without tender.
