25 lakh Pfizer vaccine doses arrive in Dhaka
The consignment reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 5am from Florida, US in a Maldivian Air flight via Munich, Germany under Covax facilities.
Another 25 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine have arrived at Dhaka today.
The consignment reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 5am from Florida, US in a Maldivian Air flight via Munich, Germany under Covax facilities.
The officials of the Ministry of Health, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Central Medicine Stores Depot (CMSD) and the airport were present to receive the vaccines.
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"These Pfizer vaccines will help Bangladesh continue to expand vaccination eligibility requirements and reach many more people, including youth. The United States is proud to partner with the Government of Bangladesh in the effort to get as many vaccinations into the arms of as many people as possible," said US Ambassador Earl R Miller. Earlier on 23 August, Health Minister Zahid Maleque confirmed at an informal media briefing that another 60 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine would be arriving from the United States in September.
As part of those 60 lakh vaccines, the country received over 1 lakh Pfizer vaccines on 31 May and over 10 lakh on 1 September.
With the 1,00,620 and 10,03,860 Pfizer vaccine doses that came in the first and second phases respectively, the country has so far received over 36 lakh doses of the vaccine.
On 27 May, the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) approved the Pfizer mRNA Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in Bangladesh, removing all legal barriers to the import and use of this vaccine.
Pfizer has been approved as the fourth vaccine to be used in the country, besides the Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield, Russia's Sputnik-V, and China's Sinopharm vaccines.
According to the DGDA, Pfizer's is a two-dose vaccine, the second dose of which will be given three weeks after the first dose.
