The Bangladesh government has requested Canada to send two million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh which is required immediately. The request came during a meeting between Canadian High Commissioner to Dhaka Benoit Préfontaine and Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momin. 

Bangladesh is in urgent requirement of the Astra Zeneca vaccine. The request from Momin followed after Canadian Procurement Minister Anita Anand that Canada might distribute excess stockpiles of AstraZeneca vaccine among developing countries. 

He also asked to route the supply of vaccines directly to Dhaka rather than to first divert it to the WHO’s COVAX. During his discussion, he also told the Canadian envoy about the efforts to get vaccines from other countries like China, Russia, and the US. 

Earlier, the US State Department has said they were actively considering Bangladesh’s request for vaccines. 

Momen also proposed separately to him to arrange vaccines for 1.2 million Rohingya refugees that Bangladesh has been hosting. He thanked Canada’s consistent diplomatic support on the issue of Rohingya repatriation. 

Significantly, Bangladesh has also signed agreements with Russia and China to locally produce Sputnik V and Sinopharm in the country. Its earlier agreement with India’s Serum Institute of India (SII) failed due to the ongoing crisis in India. The SII had provided 10 million doses to Bangladesh.