A government expert committee has recommended using Covid vaccines from the Chinese company Sinopharm and Sputnik V of Russia as alternatives to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

The committee on Monday sent its appraisal report to the Prime Minister’s Office as the Serum India has stopped supplying the Covid vaccine in breach of a contract to provide three crore doses of the vaccine in six months — from January to June.

‘We’ve shortlisted the vaccines from Sinopharm and Sputnik V of Russia,’ Directorate General of Drug Administration director general Major General Mahbubur Rahman told New Age.

‘We’ve sent the appraisal  report to the PMO and the relevant government agencies will now procure the vaccines from these countries,’ said Mahbubur, who heads the eight-member expert committee.

On the back of the uncertainty over the supply of vaccine from the Indian manufacturer Serum, the government on April 20 formed the committee to give recommendations to the Prime Minister’s Office by Monday on alternatives to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine so that the mass Covid vaccination programme could be continued.

Bangladesh has a deal with the Serum India and its local vendor Beximco Pharma to buy three crore doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine the Serum prduces.

Bangladesh has already paid Tk 1,455.08 crore to the Serum Institute for the vaccine, according to the Finance Division.

Bangladesh last received 20 lakh doses of the Serum vaccine in February and thus 70 lakh doses in total as the company did not supply a single dose in March.

India has reportedly put a temporary hold on all major exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum in a bid to meet the country’s local demand.

Due to the supply failure, Bangladesh has suspended its first-dose Covid vaccination for an indefinite period from Monday.

The mass vaccination programme began on February 7.

Bangladesh does not have in store enough vaccine doses to administer the second shot of the double-dose vaccine on more than 14 lakh people while another 14 lakh who have registered for the vaccination have not received a dose.

The health agency data showed that until Sunday 5,818,400 people had received the first jab and 2,326,866 of them had had their second dose.

Bangladesh has now around 20 lakh doses in store out of the 32 lakh doses it has received as gift from India in addition to the 70 lakh doses supplied by the Serum Institute.

On Monday many registered vaccine seekers visited vaccination centres for their first jab only to be sent back unvaccinated.

Due to the vaccine supply halt by the Serum India, Bangladesh is now looking for alternatives, officials said.

Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen on Monday told New Age that the discussion on getting supply of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V with potentials to produce it locally was now at an advanced level. 

Bangladesh has sent a list of several public and private vaccine manufacturing companies to Russian authorities to assess the feasibility of joint production here, he said.

Engagement with China is also going on to get vaccines produced by its companies Sinopharm and Sinovac as the country has agreed to initially provide 5,00,000 vaccine doses as gift, he said.

The government has sought information from both Russia and China about the present state of the ‘emergency use authorisation’ and compliance with the World Health Organisation requirements with respect to their vaccines in question, the foreign secretary said.

Engaging China and Russia is a part of efforts through Bangladesh embassies abroad to secure supply of vaccine from multiple alternative sources, including the US and the UK, to address the risks of disruption in the supply of vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, he said.

The government has also started looking for alternative sources to import liquefied oxygen for medical purposes as India has suspended medical oxygen export due to a surge in their domestic demand, the foreign secretary said.

Bangladesh would also join a six-nation ministerial-level consultation on Wednesday with lead from China on Covid responses in South Asia.

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen would lead the Bangladesh delegation to the consultation to be held virtually with participation from Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh would seek to introduce a mechanism for rapid deployment of emergency medical goods among the participating countries, the foreign secretary added.