Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said that there is nothing to be worried about the supply of medical oxygen in Bangladesh at the moment.
"There is no shortage of gaseous oxygen in the country. We needed to import the liquid oxygen during the Covid-19 upsurge," he told a press conference at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons in Dhaka on Tuesday.
His remarks, however, came at a time when India has abruptly halted its oxygen export to Bangladesh as its struggling with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen.
"We do not import oxygen from India all year round. When there was an upward infection trend, we imported it every day. Although no oxygen has been imported over the past four-five days, we are facing no trouble," he said.
With the current capability, the minister said, there is nothing to be worried about. "But, if the number of patients rises to 21,000 from 7,000, we will face a crisis."
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The production capacity of gaseous oxygen in the country is well, he said. "We have also asked the hospitals to use gaseous oxygen to avoid the use of liquid oxygen."
Alongside, the health authorities have already contacted the industries, which use liquid oxygen, so that oxygen can be collected from them during the crisis, he said. "We have also taken steps to import small oxygen plants."
Meanwhile, the Department of Explosives has instructed the oxygen production companies to suspend supply to different industries.
It asked them to provide oxygen to hospitals and clinics only at the moment.
'Uncertainty will soon be over'
The health minister on Tuesday also said that the uncertainty over receiving Covid-19 vaccine jabs from the Serum Institute of India (SII) is likely to be over soon.
"We placed an order for 30 million doses of vaccine [from SII] and paid the money. But it is a matter of regret that we are not getting the vaccine in due time, disrupting our vaccination activities. The local agent, Beximco, and we are trying our best to have it," he said, reports UNB.
"Our government is also trying to bring the vaccine jabs and the PMO and the Foreign Ministry have been working on it. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly requested the Indian prime minister to ensure the vaccine supply. So, we hope we may get the vaccine quickly, but we could not know the exact time. We will be able to know about it within a few days," he added.
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Maleque said the government is also trying to collect vaccines from China, Russia, and the US. "We are making progress in this regard, and we think we will be able to procure vaccines from there."
He said China has already made a commitment to provide Bangladesh with half a million vaccine doses and the government is now waiting to receive it.
The minister said there is a crisis of the vaccine all over the world due to less production compared to its demand while the rich countries bought 70% of the jabs.
He said the government has sent letters to Beximco and SII to have the vaccine as per the agreement. "Our prime minister urged her Indian counterpart during his visit to Bangladesh to give the vaccine in due time and he assured her of doing so."
Maleque said the Foreign Ministry has regular contact with the Indian Foreign Ministry over the matter, but there is an embargo right now by the Indian government on vaccine export. "All countries will get the vaccine when the embargo is lifted."
He said they have heard that India is facing a crisis of raw materials that are used for making the vaccine.
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"India imports the raw materials from the US. The US has also kept the export of raw materials suspended. So, there is international business politics over the vaccine," added the minister.
DGDA to clear more vaccines
Maleque also said that the government has given the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) a green signal to approve the vaccines, which have been cleared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international regulators.
He said a process is underway to approve the vaccines of China and Russia.
The minister said they have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Russia and sent a letter to China over the vaccine.
He said Beximco and Incepta pharmaceuticals have shown interest in manufacturing the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine of Russia in Bangladesh and the government is taking necessary steps in this regard.
He said Russia will take a decision on it after examining the technical and financial capability of the companies. "It now depends on Russia."
