'Efforts on to normalise things after price disclosure of Sinopharm vaccine'

A signage of Sinopharm is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), following the COVID-19 outbreak, in Beijing, China 5 September, 2020.
Reuters

The government is dealing the issue of price disclosure of Sinopharm vaccines diplomatically with the aim of procuring 15 million doses from China, concerned officials said.

“The scenario looks different to some extent after the incident (price disclosure). We are doing our best to make things normal,” a senior government official said, reports UNB.

Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen had a meeting with Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming to discuss the issue by explaining the whole scenario.

"Our ambassador in Beijing is trying desperately with the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs. He remains engaged," another official told media, mentioning that the price disclosure has given a lot of "inconvenience" to the Chinese company.

Revealing the contract price of the vaccine doses is against the "confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement" and the price for Bangladesh by Sinopharm is among the lowest in all countries, a diplomatic source said adding that the price also depends on who is procuring when.

Bangladesh has also written to relevant parties in China mentioning that it was an "unintentional" mistake to reveal the price of vaccine per dose. On 27 May, the cabinet committee on public purchase approved a proposal for buying 15 million doses of Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine.

Following the meeting, a cabinet division official told reporters at a briefing that they would purchase the vaccine at $10 per dose. It is not clear yet whether the government would be able to buy the Sinopharm vaccine doses at this price in the future.

A consignment of 20 million of China's Sinopharm vaccines is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka this month and is reported that Sri Lanka has purchased one dose of the vaccines at $15, according to the Daily Mirror.

Before the price disclosure, Bangladesh was assured by the Chinese government that they would keep 15 million vaccine doses for Bangladesh. On the other hand, India is currently focusing on their own vaccination programme instead of export considering their domestic situation.