The third consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan will arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday.
A flight of All Nippon Airways (ANA), carrying an amount of 616,780 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, left Narita airport at 21:15hrs on Monday.
The consignment is set to reach the Dhaka airport on Tuesday by a Cathay Pacific cargo flight, officials said.
With the third consignment, the total number of dispatched vaccines from Japan as of now stands at 1,643,300.
This delivery is part of Japan’s commitment of supplying over 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax mechanism.
Officials, including Syed Nasir Ershad from the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo, were present during the vaccine dispatch at the Narita Airport.
Bangladesh received the first consignment of 245,200 doses from Japan on July 24.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki said this is the manifestation of friendship and partnership.
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During his recent telephone conversation with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, Foreign Minister Dr AK Momen had raised the vaccine issue and requested him to help Bangladesh by supplying the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He specifically mentioned the urgency of the AstraZeneca vaccine doses as a good number of people in Bangladesh did not get the second dose of this vaccine due to a supply gap.
Japan says it will stand by Bangladesh in the fight against Covid-19.
The Japanese foreign minister announced that 15 countries in the region will be provided with 11 million doses in total under the Covax facility.