Bangladesh likely to start receiving Serum Institute's AstraZeneca vaccines from August: health minister

Bangladesh is likely to start receiving AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India in August, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today.

"We have received indication that from August, they [Serum Institute of India] will start supplying AstraZeneca vaccines," Zahid Maleque told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport where he along with the foreign minister and US ambassador received the Moderna vaccines late last night.

"We will then be able to inoculate the ones who have not received second doses," he said.

Around 15 lakh people who got first dose of AstraZeneca vaccines earlier have been eagerly waiting for the second dose but are yet to see any ray of hope as India had halted export of AstraZeneca vaccines since March amid increasing Covid-19 infections in the country.