Bangladesh
Covid-19 Vaccine Authorities approve Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use
Dhaka, May 27: Health authorities on Thursday approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in the country.
The approval has been given at a time when Bangladesh is battling a second wave of the coronavirus amid a shortage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, that was supposed to be supplied by neighbouring India.
The Directorate General of Drug Administration confirmed the development through a press release on May 25.
Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, head professor of Directorate General of Health Services said Dhaka residents awaiting the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine would get Pfizer-BioNTech shots after registering with the national vaccine registration platform Surokha.
The vaccine became the fourth approved jab in Bangladesh after Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Sputnik V.
Bangladesh started vaccination activities across the country on February 7 by applying the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine-Covishield- developed by the Serum Institute of India.
On April 25, the government suspended the first dose of Covishield, just a day after India announced that no more vaccine would be sent to Bangladesh due to shortage in the country amid a spike in coronavirus cases.
Since the Serum Institute of India failed to deliver the dose of vaccine they promised, thousands are waiting for their second jab.
In June, Bangladesh is expected to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the United States under the World Health Organization and Covax facility.
According to the DGDA, two doses of the vaccine will be given within three to four weeks of the first jab. Vaccine storage temperatures range from -90 degrees to -60 degrees Celsius.
However, the vaccine can remain stable for five days at 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius, while for two hours at 30 degrees Celsius, according to the press statement.
Meanwhile, on May 12, Beijing handed over 500,000 doses of Synopharm vaccine to Bangladesh as a special gift. China has promised another 600,000 doses of the jab to Dhaka.
Bangladesh started vaccinating medical college students on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase approved a proposal by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to purchase the synopharm vaccine.
According to the approval, the ministry's health care department will collect a total of 15 million shots in between June and August.
