It is the first consignment sent under the Covax facility
 
Bangladesh has received the first consignment of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

The shipment reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:20pm on Monday.

Bangladesh got the delivery of the vaccines under the Covax facility run by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) approved the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in Bangladesh on May 27, after an evaluation panel recommended its emergency use on May 25.

BioNTech claims the vaccine it developed with Pfizer should be roughly as effective against the new coronavirus variant first detected in India as it has been shown to be against the South African variant.

Earlier, chief of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said that the residents of Dhaka, waiting for their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine after registering with the national vaccine registration platform Surokkha, would get the Pfizer-BioNTech shots once its first consignment arrives.

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According to the health authorities, the two-dose vaccine will be inoculated within three to four weeks of the first jab. The vaccine's preservation temperature ranges between -90 degrees and -60 degrees Celsius.

The vaccine, however, can remain stable for five days at 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius, while for two hours at 30 degrees Celsius, the press statement adds.

Bangladesh started its vaccination program across the country on February 7 by administering Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India.

On April 25, the government suspended administering the first dose of the Covishield, just a day after India said no more vaccine doses would be shipped to Bangladesh anytime soon.

Meanwhile, China handed over 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Bangladesh as a special gift on May 12. Beijing has said that it will send another 600,000 doses of the vaccine to Dhaka.

Bangladesh is also negotiating with Russia to get their Sputnik V vaccine.