Bangladeshi expats apply to Australia parliament to send gift of 50m AstraZeneca shots

Bangladeshi expatriates have applied to the Australia Parliament to send a gift of 50 million AstraZeneca vaccines to the country.

By approving their application, the parliamentary authorities have advised the expatriates to take further action as per rules. In this context, collection of signatures is now going on through e-petition.

Any Australian citizen can sign this petition. If at least 10,000 signatures are collected before August 12, the parliament will raise the matter through the speaker.

The application further stated that -- in 1971, Australia was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh as an independent country. "We hope that giving the surplus AstraZeneca vaccine as a gift to Bangladesh will be another milestone".

Australia is producing the AstraZeneca vaccine in its own laboratory. In a country of 25 million people, the country has already produced 50 million surplus AstraZeneca vaccines. And because the Pfizer vaccine has already arrived in Australia, almost all citizens are interested in the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna is also expected to arrive in a few months.

"We are trying to ensure 50 million vaccines as gift. Since Australia has its own lab, there is an opportunity to get the vaccine as per the demand thorough contacts of high-level officials of the Bangladesh government," Mohammed Abdul Matin, president of the Sydney Press and Media Council, told this reporter.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in a Facebook message on June 2 said, "Australia is working to tackle Covid-19 in Bangladesh's. In partnership with our friends, we will continue to help protect the Indo-Pacific region from the effects of Covid-19".

Akidul Islam is a Bangladeshi journalist living in Australia.