The National Research Ethics Committee of Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) on Wednesday decided to approve Globe Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine, Bangavax, for human trials.   Globe Biotech will get the final nod on conducting clinical trials on humans only after meeting some conditions set by the BMRC, its director Prof Dr Ruhul Amin said this after a virtual meeting. On January 17, Globe Biotech, the only Bangladeshi company trying to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, submitted a protocol to the BMRC for ethical approval to conduct Bangavax’s clinical trials.  Vaccination drive in Bangladesh Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, suspended the registration for Covid-19 vaccination due to jab shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India. However, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday announced that administering of Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccine doses will begin on June 19.   Also read: International vaccine institute to be set up in Bangladesh: Hasina Some 4,257,499 people got the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one. Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162. The health minister earlier said Pfizer vaccine shots will be given at four centres in Dhaka to those who have already registered. The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) on Tuesday approved Janssen Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the country.  This is the sixth Covid-19 vaccine to get DGDA nod for emergency use, but the first single-dose jab approved in the country.   The other approved vaccines are: Covishield produced by Serum Institute of India, Sputnik V of Generium Joint Stock Company of Russia, Sinopharm from Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd of China, Pfizer vaccine manufactured by Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV, and Coronavac produced by Sinovac Life Sciences Ltd of China.   Also read: Alarming Covid surge in Bangladesh, 60 more die Vaccine procurement update Bangladesh will soon receive 10 lakh and 800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine soon under COVAX facility, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday.   Bangladesh Ambassador to the US conveyed the message of this development to the Foreign Minister.  Bangladesh, earlier sought 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the US for addressing Bangladesh's immediate needs but the US is yet to reply on that particular request.  Meanwhile, the second consignment of the Sinopharm vaccine, amounting to some 600,000 doses, arrived here on Sunday as a gift from the Chinese government. Bangladesh has also received 100,620 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on June 1.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the government is going to set up an international vaccine institute to produce vaccines, including the Covid-19 ones, in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina said this in Parliament while replying to a tabled question from Awami League MP Ahasanul Islam Titu (Tangail-6). Read: Bangladesh approves single-dose Janssen Covid-19 vaccine She said the government will sign an agreement with South Korea to set up the vaccine institute and the issues relating to ratification, accession and approval of the agreement by the Cabinet are under process. The Prime Minister said the government has taken an initiative to produce Covid-19 vaccines in the country alongside collection from foreign sources to check the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. Hasina said government-to government (G2G) negotiations are underway with the countries that have developed vaccines for transferring technology to this end. Read: Second consignment of Sinopharm vaccine arrives

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Sunday urged the government to extend its necessary support to local company Globe Biotech so that it can succeed in developing its vaccine - Bangavax. In a statement, he voiced resentment as Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) is not giving approval to the company for conducting a clinical trial of the vaccine. “The people of the country want to know in whose interest the trial of Bangavax is not taking place though four months have elapsed (since it has sought permission). The government should extend support for the success of the locally developed vaccine alongside importing foreign ones to prevent the coronavirus,” he said. The Jatiya Party chief said Globe Biotech applied to the BMRCH for ist approval to carry out a clinical trial in January last. “But the permission has not been given yet for reasons unknown.” Even, he said, the World Health Organization has listed Bangavax as a potential vaccine for corona prevention. Also read: Take mega projects to improve healthcare system: GM Quader On December 26 last year, GM Quader said the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) also allowed Globe Biotech to produce a vaccine for the trial. “But Bangavax cannot make any breakthrough for lack of BMRC’s permission.” Citing researchers of Globe Biotech, the Jatiya Party chairman said a single dose Bangavax found effective in developing antibodies during the animal trial of the vaccine. “The researchers expect to have similar results in clinical trials. As the one-dose vaccine Bangavax is made synthetically, it’s virus-free and 100% halal,” he said. GM Quader said the government should help the company produce its vaccine. “If Bangavax succeeds in the clinical trial, it’ll be possible to export it abroad by meeting the local demand.” Also read: GM Quader for effective steps to prevent waterway accidents He also said Bangladesh's Bangavax can come to the global spotlight by exhibiting its efficiency in preventing the coronavirus.

Reaffirming that the government is making all-out efforts to collect Covid-19 vaccines from different sources, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said they are now at the stage of signing a deal with Russia to procure Sputnik-V vaccine. Speaking at a virtual discussion arranged by Bangladesh Private Medical College Association, he said they are also trying to procure the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine from other countries besides India. Also Read: Bangladesh seeks immediate delivery of 4 mn vaccine doses from US: FM “We’ve been using the AstraZeneca vaccine as we had placed an order for 3 crore doses of it. We’ve got only 70 lakh jabs in addition to 30 lakh that came as a gift…but now we don’t have that much vaccine in our stock and whatever is left will be given as the second dose,” the minister said He said the Prime Minister, Health Ministry, Foreign Ministry and other relevant ministries are making joint efforts to procure vaccines from other sources. “We’ve already made a huge progress in discussions with Russia over procuring its vaccine … now we’re at the stage of signing a deal in this regard,” Maleque said. He said they are also in talks with China to have Sinopharm’s Covid vaccine. “They informed us that five lakh of doses will arrive in Bangladesh by May 12. We’ve also sent a letter to them seeking more vaccine doses.” The minister said the Chinese government is now assessing the possibility of vaccine export to Bangladesh. Also Read: Serum to return money if it fails to provide vaccine: Finance Minister “So, we’re making all-out efforts to collect the vaccine. Even, we’re trying to have AstraZeneca’s vaccine from other countries as it’s being manufactured in different countries. So, every effort is there to bring vaccines. We hope our efforts will yield good results, and we may be able to give you good news over the vaccine very soon,” he said. The minister also said they will encourage the private sector if it tries to manufacture vaccines in Bangladesh. “If anyone can produce vaccines, we’ll provide all-out support, and it’s my commitment.” Speaking at the programme, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Enamur Rahman said there is no alternative to vaccinating people to control the coronavirus. He said the government is working sincerely on procuring vaccines from Russia, China and other sources as there has been a crisis of AstraZeneca’s jabs in India. Also Read: Efforts intensified to get Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from US: FM Besides, he said, Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) has already approved local company Globe Biotech’s 'Bangovax' vaccine. “We hope we’ll be able to vaccinate most of our people by collecting the vaccines within a few months.” He said all the pandemics that emerged in the world earlier had been brought under control through vaccinations. “We hope we’ll be able to control the corona pandemic by vaccinating our 60-80 percent people.”    

The government has again extended the closure of educational institutions until Jan 30 as the coronavirus situation shows no sign of improvement.

Bangladeshi pharmaceutical company Globe Biotech has gotten approval from the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine for clinical trial.

Claiming that they have got very promising results from pre-clinical trials on rabbits and mice of the coronavirus vaccine styled ‘BNCOVID’ developed by it, Bangladesh’s Globe Biotech Ltd on Monday said they want to bring it to the market by January next if they are allowed to launch the first phase of human trials very soon.