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Published : 29 Jun 2021, 01:30 AM
On Jun 12, 2021, two aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force left Dhaka for Beijing to bring 600,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine shots as a gift from China. One month earlier, Bangladesh had received 500,000 gift doses from China. But these so-called 'gifts' from China are coming with stipulations of transport and more importantly pricing.
India had also provided the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, or SII, to its friends in the neighbourhood – Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, in view of the deadly second wave in India, domestic pressure, coupled with a severe shortage, India's COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy — Vaccine Maitri — came to a screeching halt. Vaccines being produced in India had to be "repurposed" to meet the country's own demands and there are no immediate plans to resume the exports. Under these desperate circumstances, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka had to seek Chinese vaccines. Bangladesh's drug regulator in April authorised emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine.
Taking advantage of the crisis in India, meanwhile, China has put its foot in New Delhi's neighbourhood, by offering its homegrown vaccines — Sinopharm and Sinovac. By May-end the Bangladesh government approved the purchase of 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China and signed a deal to buy the Sinopharm shot. There was a stipulation from China that Bangladesh would not be disclosing the price or quantity of doses. But Bangladesh's Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division, Shahida Akhter, told the media that each dose of China's Sinopharm vaccine will be priced at $10. The revelation of vaccine prices has created some issues. Similarly, the disclosure of procurement price of Sinopharm vaccine in Sri Lanka and now Nepal sparked a row after reports emerged that China has been selling the vaccines at different prices to the South Asian countries.
Bangladesh had started its inoculation drive against the coronavirus with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine procured from India at $5 per dose. As things stand, the Chinese vaccine is set to cost Bangladesh double the AstraZeneca shot from the Serum Institute of India. Similarly, Sri Lanka is reported to have purchased one dose of AstraZeneca vaccine for $5.50, which is almost one-third the price being offered by Beijing. (Bangladesh to buy Chinese Covid-19 vaccines for undisclosed price – Livemint| 13 Jun 2021).
For Nepal, it appears that the deal is even costlier. The Nepali media reported a minister as saying that two doses of the Chinese vaccine are likely to cost around $20. According to a health ministry official of Nepal, $20 for two doses would still be pricey for Nepal when compared to what deal it got for the $4 AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India. According to leaked documents by the Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that were published by the Nepali media, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi put extensive pressure on his Nepalese counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali to accept Sinopharm's vaccine without affirming its efficacy. The Chinese side has not reportedly divulged details of their vaccine to Nepalese.
It now seems that the Chinese government is upset with Dhaka because the price has been disclosed. In an attempt to mollify, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen held a meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, Li Jiming, and regretted the price revelation. According to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Bangladesh had to go for a "rough ride with China on vaccine issue" as the Chinese were "not happy with the disclosure of the price". Further for Bangladesh, the $150 million government-to-government vaccine deal with China does not involve the delivery of the vaccines to Dhaka. A C-130J transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force had to bring the China-donated COVID-19 vaccines and AD syringes.
Compare this with the vaccine supply from India. On Jan 20, 2021, a special flight from India carrying a gift of 2 million doses of COVISHIELD- Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, locally manufactured by Serum Institute of India, landed at Shahjalal International Airport. Last year, during his visit to Dhaka, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, emphasised that Bangladesh will be a priority recipient of the COVID-19 vaccine made in India. India additionally gifted 1.2 million free doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country in March. India also facilitated a commercial contract of 30 million doses with the Pune-based SII. As part of commercial shipments on Feb 21, two million doses were shipped. India's last shipment to Bangladesh was a grant of 100,000 doses sent on Apr 2, when the second wave of the pandemic hit India, interrupting the supply of vaccines because of rising domestic demand.
Earlier, China had suggested that Bangladesh should share the cost of third phase clinical trials if it wanted vaccine made by Chinese firms. While Dhaka refused, the Chinese company said that Bangladesh could not be an exception to not sharing costs as Sinovac was putting the same conditions for countries in which clinical trials were conducted as a precursor to jab supplies. Dhaka then turned to India and swiftly struck a deal with Serum, the world's largest vaccine-maker.
Chinese vaccines have been caught in a web of controversy. COVID-19 vaccines from China have been battling allegations from various quarters that these are not effective enough. The controversy was further compounded in April when George Gau, the head of China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, himself on Apr 11 at a Chengdu conference on COVID-19 vaccines said: "We will solve the problem that current vaccines don't have very high protection rates." The Sinopharm vaccine was granted emergency approval by the World Health Organization on May 7 this year to alleviate the global vaccine crunch. The idea behind granting recognition to the Chinese vaccine was to address the issue of vaccine inequity as the developed world had cornered the global supply of vaccines. The phase III trials of China's existing vaccines remain unpublished. For CoronaVac, the vaccine made by private company Sinovac, phase I and II data have been published—showing a limited antibody response — while state-owned Sinopharm has only said that its two vaccines have an efficacy of 79.4 percent and 72.5 percent, based on interim results. Bahrain has directed its citizens and expatriates to go in for the third "booster dose" of Sinovac as the first and second doses did not produce required antibodies in the recipients' immune system.
There are reports of a large number of Chinese workers falling sick due to COVID infection at worksites all over Bangladesh. According to sources, the majority of Chinese workers have been inoculated for COVID-19 in China before their travel to Bangladesh. This throws a major question mark on Bangladesh's vaccine policy. Are we buying inferior jabs for exorbitant price risking people's lives and livelihood? As the Chinese vaccines are not universally accepted, particularly in the Middle East, our expatriate population who send much needed foreign exchange for the country would not be able to travel to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE after inoculation with the Chinese vaccine.
South Asian countries should further keep in mind that in addition to efficacy, pricing and delivery mechanism for the Chinese vaccines remain a problem. Turkey and Indonesia are among a few to accept Chinese vaccines. There are allegations against China of conveniently avoiding Pakistan and deliberately keeping it on the "waiting list' as countries, which could pay "hands down" are there, and Pakistan due to its economic woes is not able to make down payment. Many observers are questioning if Chinese production can meet existing commitments, even as China's government makes new promises abroad. Even Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming recently mocked the vaccine requirement of Bangladesh stating before the DCAB (Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh) that the country is among the last in the queue for vaccine supplies, as China is busy meeting other commitments, and no supply is expected before December. Over 60 countries have approved a Chinese vaccine and shortfalls in production or efficacy could darken the pandemic outlook for low-income countries. The insistence on the purchase of vaccines under a non-disclosure agreement, with delivery dates and other details under wraps as proposed by Chinese firm Sinopharm, has raised concerns among all South Asian countries procuring vaccines from China. Has there been any additional "riders" which Bangladesh had to fulfil for the "under-pricing" of the Chinese vaccine?
For Bangladesh, the deal of pricier Sinopharm vaccines without confirmed delivery dates or transportation facilities begs the question of whether the country is being specifically singled out by China. Is Bangladesh being punished for its close relations with India, its sympathetic outlook towards the QUAD and for accidentally exposing China's devious vaccine price structure!
