Bangladesh on Thursday night received 10 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine as part of commercial purchase from China while 20 lakh more are scheduled to arrive by early Friday. An aircraft of Bangladesh Biman Airlines landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport carrying 10 lakh doses of Sinopharma vaccine from China around 10:30pm, Dr Shahriar Sazzad, in-charge of the airport health centre, told UNB. Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh lowers vaccination age to 25 Thirty lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China are supposed to reach Bangladesh on Thursday night and early Friday, sources at the health ministry said. The vaccine consignments were scheduled to arrive at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in three flights at 10pm, 1am and 3 am, the sources added. Read: Covid in Bangladesh: Daily toll remains above 200; 15,271 more infected Earlier, Bangladesh received 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine jabs on July 17 and July 18. The vaccine doses were provided as part of a commercial agreement with China.

Thirty lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China will reach Bangladesh on Thursday night and early Friday, health ministry sources said. The consignment of vaccines will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in three flights at 10pm, 1am and 3 am, added the sources. Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh lowers vaccination age to 25 Earlier, some 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in two aircrafts on July 17 and early July 18. The vaccines were provided as part of a commercial agreement with China. Read: Covid in Bangladesh: Daily toll remains above 200; 15,271 more infected

Bangladesh will receive 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China on Saturday night as part of the commercial agreement as the country has accelerated its vaccination drive. Deputy Chief of Mission at Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Hualong Yan on Friday told UNB that the vaccine doses will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in two aircraft. He said China will also provide 10 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine in addition to the 11 lakh doses already received as a gift from it. "This is a gift for our Bangladeshi brothers and sisters in their fight against the pandemic," Hualong Yan said. Read: China to continue providing vaccine aid to Bangladesh: Wang Yi Bangladesh has already received 20 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine as part of commercial purchase from China. Bangladesh will receive initially 1.5 crore doses of vaccine as part of a commercial purchase agreement. Hualong said China stands ready to provide support and assistance to help with Bangladesh government's poverty alleviation through the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center. Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to provide Bangladesh with the Covid vaccines to help Bangladesh fight the epidemic. Read: Covid-19: Government orders 66 crore vaccine doses worth RS 14,505 crore He also said China is willing to work with Bangladesh to maintain the momentum of the development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. The Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister met Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momon in Tashkent and discussed the issues on the sidelines of the International Conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity - Challenges and opportunities” on Thursday. Wang Yi said that China and Bangladesh are good neighbours and friends and the two sides always adhere to equal treatment and mutual respect, continue to deepen friendly cooperation, and actively jointly build the "Belt and Road".