Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday requested his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to convince the United States to supply the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh.
He made the request during a phone conversation, the foreign ministry said.
Bangladesh was buying the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.
But the Serum could not supply the doses as planned forcing Bangladesh to stop administering the first dose of the vaccine.
There is a shortage of 2 million doses for completing the second dose. The US has a surplus of about 80 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Indian external affairs minister said he was aware of Bangladesh's situation, including the demand for a second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dr. Momen said he had already requested the United States to send the required doses to Bangladesh as soon as possible.
He urged Jaishankar to request the United States to provide vaccines to Bangladesh.
Jaishankar replied that he would request the United States in this regard, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Some 1,014 Bangladeshi professionals living in the United States have sent an application to the White House seeking vaccines for the country.
Besides, Bangabandhu Foundation, the Freedom Fighters Council and Georgia State Senator Sheikh Rahman have also requested the White House to provide vaccines to Bangladesh.
They made the request as they came to know from unconfirmed sources that Bangladesh is not on the priority list as the virus infection rate and death rate in Bangladesh are comparatively low.
Countries with the highest number of victims and deaths are on the priority list of the United States.
The foreign minister also mourned the victims of the cyclone in India during the phone conversation.
