Bangladesh has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Serum Institute of India for getting Covishield, the Indian version of Oxford-AtraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine.

The MoU was signed in presence of Health Minister Zahid Maleque and Indian High Commissioner Vikram K Doraiswami at the Ministry’s conference room on Thursday afternoon.

According to the deal, Serum will supply three crore doses of the vaccine – 50 lakh per month – to Bangladesh at a price similar to what India will get at, once it is finally approved for human application.

The government will procure this Covid-19 vaccine via the local drug producer, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, the sole supplier of Seram’s vaccine to Bangladesh.

Earlier, the Health Service Division sent a proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval to import Serum’s vaccine through Beximco.