COVAX Initiative: 106,000 Pfizer jabs to arrive today

The first consignment of 106,000 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is expected to arrive today under the global vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX.

"The vaccine jabs will arrive tomorrow [today] but we are yet to decide who will be inoculated with these," Md Shamsul Haque, a line director at the Directorate General of Health Services, told to the media yesterday.

Initially, the doses will be stored in the government vaccine storage centres in the capital.

Bangladesh is expected to receive 68 million doses of Covid vaccines from COVAX.

The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) on May 27 approved the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine in the country.

Seeking anonymity, a health official told this newspaper that these vaccine doses will be administered mainly in the capital as most areas outside the city don't have the cold chain system needed to transport and store the vaccine.

"The Pfizer vaccine must be stored in minus 60-80 degrees Celsius," the official pointed out.

The vaccine produced by Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV is the fourth Covid-19 vaccine approved so far by the DGDA for emergency use in Bangladesh.

The other three are: Covishield produced by Serum Institute of India; Sputnik V manufactured by Generium Joint Stock Company of Russia; and Sinopharm produced by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd of China.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), and the World Health Organization are co-leads of the COVAX initiative for equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines.