Japan to provide 7 lakh more AstraZeneca vaccines doses Dec 21

A consignment of 704,010 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in Japan is scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on December 21.

This is in addition to a consignment of 788,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine Japan provided to Bangladesh on December 15.

"We plan to deliver another 704,010 doses next week totalling approximately 1.5 million doses," said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki.

This is purely for the sake of the Bangladeshi people, he said, hoping that this vaccine support will contribute to the Bangladesh government's efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"Japan hopes that fair, equitable and comprehensive access to safe and effective vaccines will be ensured in Bangladesh and I would like to reiterate that Japan will stand by Bangladesh in the fight against Covid-19 and will work together to contain Covid-19," said the ambassador.

In July and August, the government of Japan provided over 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh under the Covax facility to meet the urgent needs of the Bangladeshi people who had been long waiting for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Considering the fact that there are many people who are still in need of vaccination in Bangladesh, and in light of the important relationship between Japan and Bangladesh, the government of Japan decided to provide another 1.5 million vaccines to the people of Bangladesh.