UK donates 1m more Oxford-AZ doses to Bangladesh

The United Kingdom (UK) has donated another one million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine to Bangladesh bilaterally.

The UK donated fresh consignment of jabs arrived in Dhaka on February 23, a British High Commission press release said on Wednesday.

Prior to this, the UK donated over 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh in December 2021 through COVAX facilities.

The vaccine donation would reinforce Bangladesh's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the country's economic recovery that further strengthen "Brit Bangla Bondhon" between the UK and Bangladesh, said the High Commission.

"This support from the UK takes us one step ahead to defeat the pandemic and further strengthens our commitment to stand with the people of Bangladesh to recover faster and build a healthier and prosperous future," said British High Commissioner here Robert Chatterton Dickson while receiving the fresh consignment of inoculation.   

Besides, the vaccine support, the UK's Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) created an enabling environment for Bangladesh government to accelerate and expand the vaccination program as well as reduce the transmission of the infection especially among the low-income people.

Since the pandemic started, the UK government has reprioritised more than £55.9 million to fund Bangladesh's National Preparedness and Response Plan to tackle COVID-19 including support for Rohingya refugees and the host communities.

Last year at the G7, the UK committed to donate 100 million doses globally by June this year, said the release.