Coronavirus vaccine: Govt signs MoU with Serum Institute of India

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Serum Institute of India (SII) to collect three crore shots of Covishield, the Indian version of Oxford-AtraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, once it is finally approved for human application.

The MoU was signed at around 1:15pm today at the ministry's conference room in Dhaka, in the presence of Health Minister Zahid Maleque and Indian High Commissioner Vikram K. Doraiswami.

"We are signing this MoU under the condition that we will take it only if it is approved by the World Health Organization," health minister Zahid said in his speech.

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Under the MoU, the SII will supply the vaccines in phases -- 50 lakh every month -- via its Bangladeshi counterpart Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Earlier, a top official of the health ministry seeking anonymity told this newspaper that each dose of the Covishield vaccine will cost US $5. Each person will need two doses of the vaccine.