China ready to deliver 600,000 vaccines as gift by 13 June

China is ready to deliver 600,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine as gift in the second batch to Bangladesh by 13 June, said deputy head of China embassy in Bangladesh Yan Hualong.

However, the date of when Bangladesh would take the delivery has not yet been fixed, the China envoy told Prothom Alo over phone on Saturday.

“We’re ready to handover the vaccines by 13 June. But it has not yet been fixed when Bangladesh would take the delivery. Hopefully this will be finalised in the next few days,” Yan Hualong said.

Earlier, in the morning, Hualong gave a status on his Facebook wall. “600,000 gift vaccines by Chinese government is ready for delivery by 13 of June,” the status reads.

Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi announced that China would gift the second batch of 600,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh during a phone conversation with Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on 20 May.

Following the phone conversation of the two ministers, the China embassy in Bangladesh issued a media release that said, “China pays close attention to the latest situation of the epidemic in Bangladesh. At the critical time in Bangladesh’s fight against the epidemic, China is concerned about the urgent need for vaccine of Bangladeshi friends...”

“Just nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses of gift vaccine in Bangladesh, China once again announced the provision of the second batch of gift vaccines to Bangladesh, which fully reflects that China attaches great importance to the friendly relations between the two countries,” the release added.

On 12 May, China gave a gift of 500,000 doses of vaccine produced by Sinopharm to Bangladesh. Of the amount, 30,000 doses were allocated for the China citizens working in Bangladesh. The second batch of 600,000 doses of vaccine is also produced in Sinopharm.