DHAKA - The Bangladeshi government has approved the purchase of a batch of COVID-19 vaccines from China.

Bangladesh's Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) Affairs at a meeting approved the purchase on Wednesday.

Shamsul Arefin, a senior Cabinet Division official, told journalists after the meeting that Bangladesh will buy the vaccines from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).

The Bangladeshi government has recently launched countrywide a mass vaccination drive following the surging COVID-19 positivity rate in parts of Bangladesh since June.

Bangladesh reported 10,420 new COVID-19 cases and 237 more deaths on Wednesday, making the case tally at 13,86,742 and death toll at 23,398, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.