The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Service Division to procure 60 million doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine as the government is trying to gear up its nationwide vaccination drive. According to officials, the vaccine doses will arrive in the country by November this year. Read: Pragmatic talks underway over vaccine procurement But the price of the vaccine doses was not disclosed as there is a non-disclosure agreement with China in this regard, they said.   “We hope the vaccine doses will reach the country by November this year. Since we’ve a non-disclosure agreement, we can’t disclose the price,” Shamsul Arefin, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, told reporters while briefing them on the issue.  The virtual meeting, chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, also approved nine other procurement proposals of different ministries.  The finance minister said, “We’ve calculated that we need to vaccinate some 13.82 crore people. So, we have to buy 27.65 crore vaccine doses. We’ve 2.55 crore vaccine doses in our hands and the remaining amounts need to be collected.”   Earlier, Bangladesh purchased 15 million doses of Sinopharm Covid vaccine from China at a rate lower than what was set in an earlier deal.   Read: Govt. mishandled procurement of Covid-19 vaccine, allege BNP Bangladesh earlier received two million doses of vaccine as a gift from China. On May 27 this year, the same committee approved the procurement of the same Chinese jabs at $10 per dose. China was then upset by the disclosure of the price saying it was a breach of a non-disclosure clause agreed by the two governments.

The government has signed deals with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to get Covid-19 vaccine shots quickly, Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general of Health Services division, said. The World Bank has agreed to provide $500 million to Bangladesh in additional financing to buy the Covid-19 vaccine shots, while ADB has agreed to give $940 million, she said on Wednesday at a virtual press conference from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The $500 million World Bank loan for buying vaccine shots under the "Covid-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project" will help Bangladesh vaccinate about 54 million people, the multinational lender said on Wednesday. Also read: Bangladesh inks over $1 b deal with World Bank for responding to COVID-19 pandemic Also, the World Bank said the project would help Bangladesh procure vaccines; expand storage facilities; and distribute and deploy the vaccines. However, Sabrina said: "We are in touch with India's Serum Institute about vaccine supply, too. Also, the government is exploring alternative sources of Covid-19 vaccines. " Sabrina hoped that Bangladesh would get COVAX vaccine doses fast. Also read: WHO calls for prioritising vaccine contracts with COVAX COVAX now has agreements in place to access nearly 2 billion doses of several promising vaccine candidates and laid the groundwork for further doses to be secured through contributions from donors, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on December 18, 2020. "These agreements mean that all COVAX's 190 participating and eligible economies will be able to access doses to protect vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021." "At least 1.3 billion donor-funded doses will be made available to 92 economies eligible for the Gavi COVAX AMC, targeting up to 20% population coverage by the end of the year," the WHO added. Also read: ‘We sink or we swim together’: 5 things you need to know about COVAX However, Sabrina also said: "If the local companies want to make the vaccine, the government will give them maximum support. The Health Minister Zahid Maleque has already visited the factories of several companies; they are making good progress."

BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Thursday alleged that the government has been playing tricks to plunder public money in the name of procuring coronavirus vaccine.

Slamming the government for not making clear its corona vaccine policy to people, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday alleged that the government has indulged in graft over vaccine collection.

BNP has demanded that the Army and relevant organisations be given the responsibility to procure the Covid-19 vaccine and preserve and distribute it.