Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said there was no need to start a blame game over the delay in approving the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm vaccine and said his country has followed its regulations in peoples’ interest.

“There is no need to assign blame in this situation as we have to follow regulations,” Momen said in the presence of Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming during an event at the state guesthouse Padma.

The senior minister said Bangladesh government had some reservations about the Sinopharm vaccine as it had not been approved by the World Health Organization.

“In our country we have certain regulations and these are not new,” he said. “They are old and laid down for the wellbeing and welfare of our people.”

The delay resulted from the argument by experts that Bangladesh should not use vaccines that were not approved by the WHO and were not being used by other countries having good health standards, bdnews24.com reported.

“The Chinese government argued that they have been using this vaccine on over 80 million-plus, which by now, is nearing 100 million and there is no side effect,” the minister said.

(SAM)