The government has faced a setback in procuring Covid vaccine from China following an impromptu disclosure of the unit price of the Sinopharm vaccine by a senior Bangladesh government official prompting the Chinese side to opt for almost a fresh negotiation making a quick supply of the vaccine uncertain.

The government has, however, continued separate negotiations with the Chinese and Russian authorities to procure 1.5 crore Sinopharm and one crore Sputnik V vaccine doses respectively, according to Bangladesh diplomats.

Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen talked to Chinese ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming about the setback in the negotiations on purchasing the Sinopharm vaccine and sought support of the Chinese government in confirming delivery of consignments at the earliest, said a diplomat aware of the matter.

The setback occurred after Cabinet Division additional secretary Shahida Akhter disclosed to journalists on May 27 that the government had approved a proposal to procure 1.5 crore doses of the Sinopharm vaccine at $10 each unit despite the signing of a non-disclosure agreement with China in this regard.

The government has removed the additional secretary from her position and made her an officer on special duty at the public administration ministry on June 1.

Health minister Zahid Maleque earlier told journalists that the government had completed all paperwork with China to buy the Sinopharm vaccine.

Chinese deputy chief of mission in Dhaka Hualong Yan on Saturday said that ‘no deal was made between Sinopharm and Bangladeshi side till today [June 5] on procurement of vaccine.’

This was a commercial purchase negotiation rather than with the Chinese government, he said.

He told New Age on Saturday that China would be happy to provide Bangladesh with the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, both approved by the World Health Organisation for emergency use.

‘In an agreement with China, we gave them the assurance that we would not disclose the prices of the vaccines, but we could not maintain it,’ foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told New Age.

The impromptu disclosure of the vaccine price has weakened Bangladesh’s position in the negotiations, the minister said, adding, ‘We have expressed our regret to the Chinese ambassador [in Dhaka].’

The Bangladesh government is now unlikely to be able to buy the vaccine for the price mentioned in documents signed earlier with the Chinese side, he said.

The new price might be same as the price sought by China from other countries, which is much higher than the price proposed earlier to Bangladesh, he added.

Hualong Yan, however, said that six lakh doses of the Sinopharm vaccine were ready for delivery to Bangladesh anytime by June 13 as gift from China.

It would depend on the Bangladesh government how they would prefer to collect the consignment, he said.

China earlier provided five lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses to Bangladesh as gift.

As part of separate negotiations to procure Russian Sputnik V vaccine, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen met with the Russian side last week on the delivery of one crore doses of the vaccine at the earliest.

The government has opted for alternative sources of Covid vaccines after its inoculation campaign faltered due to the failure of the Serum Institute of India to deliver the agreed Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses.

After receiving advance payment for about 1.5 crore doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine of the Covishield brand, the Serum India entered into an agreement with the Bangladesh government to supply it with  a total of three crore doses in the six months from February.

But the company stopped supplying the vaccine after delivering only 70 lakh doses in two consignments in February and March.

The Serum has, however, received an approval from the Indian government to co-produce the Sputnik V vaccine of Russia.

The government is administering the second jab only to those who have received the first shot of the two-dose Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after the near-suspension of the first-dose vaccination across the country.

The government has meanwhile contacted the US, the UK, Canada and Indian authorities to obtain supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on an urgent basis as there is a shortage of over 14 lakh doses of the vaccine for the recipients of the first jab.

Without mentioning any specific quantity, the US government on June 3 announced that it would provide Bangladesh with Covid vaccine under the Covax arrangement as part of a plan to distribute 2.5 crore vaccine doses to over 20 countries in the first phase.