China is preparing a the second batch of 600,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh.

The announcement came Friday, just nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine as a gift.

China says the move fully reflects that it attaches great importance to the friendly relations between the two countries.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday to this end.

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At the request of Bangladesh, it was announced that China would handover the second batch of 600,0000 vaccine doses to Bangladesh.

China pays close attention to the latest situation of the epidemic in Bangladesh, the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka said.

At this critical time in Bangladesh’s fight against the epidemic, China is concerned about the urgent need for vaccinating its Bangladeshi friends, to help the  overcomes the huge demand for domestic and foreign orders and the shortage of vaccine supply, it said.

The arrival of the second batch vaccine will definitely help the Bangladeshi government and people build a strong line of defense against the epidemic, China said.

Also read: Govt approves proposal to import Sinofarm vaccine

In the future, China is willing to provide necessary support for Bangladesh and South Asian countries to fight the epidemic, deepen anti-epidemic cooperation with Bangladesh, and effectively protect the health and security of their citizens.

The Chinese Foreign Minister assured of providing all kinds of support to ensure continuation of "stable supply" of COVID vaccines to Bangladesh.

Dr Momen requested his Chinese counterpart to take an initiative for coproduction of vaccines in Bangladesh.

The Chinese Foreign Minister said they will encourage the Chinese companies to go for coproduction of vaccines with Bangladesh.

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He said China keeps up its support with Malaysia, Turkey, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates on vaccine coproduction.

Bangladesh Reaches Out to Global Media

Foreign Minister Dr Momen on Friday reached out to the global media to let the world know that Bangladesh is looking for vaccines desperately and is ready to accept any shipment desperately from any country, including the United States.

"We need it desperately. If any shipment comes, we’ll take it right away," he told CNN in a live interview.

Also read: Bangladesh reaches out to int'l media as it seeks vaccines desperately

Dr Momen said the big problem is that a large number of people in Bangladesh who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca could not take the second dose.

"Because we don't have any more. We can't give them the second dose. That’s creating a lot of problems for us," said the Foreign Minister.

He said the government of Bangladesh is trying to get vaccines from other places and they were delighted when Bangladesh heard that the US will be distributing some of the AstraZeneca vaccines that they have.

Dr Momen said he had requested the US government and sent a letter to his counterpart US Secretary of State. "They agreed to give us."

Read: More countries approached for vaccines; talks with China at final stage: FM

Now the problem is, he said, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a long time to approve the export of AstraZeneca.

Dr Momen said they are thankful to US President Joe Biden for announcing that the USA will be distributing some of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses to developing countries, pretty large numbers - 60 million plus 20 around - 80 million doses. "This is good news for us."

Exploring Multiple Options

On Thursday, Dr Momen said the government is giving its best efforts to get vaccines connecting multiple countries - the United States, China, Canada, Russia and the UK apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs.

He said the discussion with China is almost at the final stage while they are expecting a positive reply from the US on the vaccine front.

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While talking to reporters at State guesthouse Padma, Dr Momen said there are people who could not take the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to short supply from India.

He also highlighted the ongoing discussion with Russia. "Hope, everything will be settled within a week."

Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister said they came to know unofficially that Bangladesh is not on the priority list of the USA as there is a lesser number of deaths in Bangladesh.

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