China announces 6 lakh more vaccine doses for Bangladesh as gift

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: China has decided to provide 6 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh as second batch of gift after nine days of sending first batch of 5 lakh doses of such inoculation here as donation, BSS reports.

At the request of Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who is also the State Councilor of China, made the announcement while the two ministers had a telephone conversation this afternoon, a spokesperson of Chinese embassy here told media.

Earlier on May 12, China handed over five lakh doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh as gift while Dhaka is keeping its efforts on globally to get access to enough inoculation.

“At the critical time point in Bangladesh’s fight against the epidemic, China is concerned about the urgent need for vaccine of Bangladeshi friends and overcomes the huge demand for domestic and foreign orders and the shortage of vaccine supply,” the spokesperson said in a What’s App message to media.

The announcement of second batch of vaccine doses as gift just nine days after the arrival of the first, reflects that China attaches great importance to the friendly relations between the two countries, he said.

The Chinese mission here believed that the arrival of the second batch of Chinese gift vaccine will definitely help the Bangladeshi government and people build a strong line of defense against the epidemic.

“In the future, China is willing to provide the necessary support for Bangladesh and South Asian countries to fight the epidemic, deepen anti-epidemic cooperation with Bangladesh, and effectively protect the health and life safety of the people of the two countries,” read the text of the spokesperson.

The Bangladesh foreign and health ministries have been continuing discussion with the Chinese side to bring more Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh commercially.