Bangladesh approves Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik for emergency use

DHAKA: The Bangladeshi government has approved the import and use of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19.

Major General Mahbubur Rahman, director general of the country’s Drug Administration, made the announcement on Tuesday.

The decision came days after Dhaka suspended the first dosing of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on a supply crunch.

“We’ve given permission for the emergency use of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine,” Rahman told journalists.

Amid uncertainty over timely arrival of the next COVID-19 vaccine shipment from India, the Bangladeshi government halted administering first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine across the country from Monday.

Nearly 6 million people have so far received the first dose of the vaccine in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Jan. 28 virtually inaugurated the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive.

The Bangladeshi government on Monday announced that it decided to extend the ongoing lockdown which began on April 14 for another week. Bangladesh recorded 112 deaths from COVID-19 on April 19, its highest daily toll from the pandemic, the government said.

On Tuesday, the country’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 3,031 new cases of COVID-19 and 78 new deaths, bringing the number of total cases to 751,659 and the total death toll to 11,228.