The Bangladesh government has approved the import and use of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. Major General Mahbubur Rahman, Director General of the country’s Drug Administration, made the announcement on Tuesday.

The decision came days after Dhaka suspended the first dosing of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on a supply crunch.

Rahman stated that, ‘We’ve given permission for the emergency use of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine. Amid uncertainty over timely arrival of the next Covid-19 vaccine shipment from India, the Bangladesh government halted administering first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine across the country from Monday’.

Nearly 6 million people have so far received the first dose of the vaccine in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on January 28 virtually inaugurated the country’s Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Bangladesh recorded 112 deaths from Covid-19 on April 19, its highest daily toll from the pandemic, the government said. On Tuesday, the country’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 3,031 new cases of Covid-19 and 78 new deaths, bringing the number of total cases to 751,659 and the total death toll to 11,228.