Reza Mahmud :
Uncertainty looms over the fate of 14 lakh first dose recipients about getting second dose of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine due to acute supply shortage.
The Directorate General of Health Services said about 14 lakh people who got the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, are now waiting for the second dose, but the jab is totally unavailable now.
They also said, there is no firm information when the jab would be available to administer the first dose recipients.
About 45 lakh doses of covid vaccines from Moderna and Sinopharm reached the country on Friday and Saturday.
But the most desired AstraZeneca has not been found yet.
India’s Serum Institute was the sole supplier of the jab as per the agreement signed with Bangladesh government with the company.
But Serum has failed to deliver the jabs as per the MoU.
As a result the country fell in a deep crisis for the shortage of covid vaccine.
The vaccination campaign and registration for the inoculation also had paused for months.
After getting several lakhs of vaccines from China and Covax, the vaccination as well as the registration resumed again.
But the fate of the 14 lakh first dose recipients who failed to get second dose is uncertain.
Earlier, the health authorities said that the second dose can be administered eight weeks after getting first shots.Later it said it can be inoculated after 10 to 12 weeks.
But as the uncertainty deepens over searching for opinion from the National Immunization Technical Expert Group on Covid-19 (NITEG) for using mixed or match doses of jabs.
When contacted, Dr. Robed Amin, Spokesman of the DGHS told The New Nation, “Several study in developed countries suggested that mixed doses of vaccine can create boosting of immunizations.”
He said, “While the vaccine is in short supply of similar doses, we may use mixed doses, as I think personally.”
The Com-Cov study, led by the University of Oxford, suggested that mixed dose vaccination can boost immunization system.
Their study findings have been published in the BBC news last week.
But experts from the NITEG did not agree with these views.
When contacted, Professor Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed, former Director of disease control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told The New Nation on Sunday, “We have said that no mixed dose can be administered among the people. The recipients who have taken AstraZeneca vaccine as first dose, must be administered the same jab as second shot. There is no alternative.”
Referring to the study report, Professor Be-Nazir said, “World Health Organisation (WHO) and the USA food authority FDA or European Union have not approved to use the mixed dose jab yet. In such, how can we recommend that?”
Replying to a query he said, “Second dose can be administered six to 12 months after taking first shot.”
The professor said that first dose create antibody and immunity up to 70 percent so that they can stay safe and wait for the second dose for long.
When contacted, Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Advisor of the World Health Organisation told The New Nation on Sunday, “Study suggested that mixed dose can boost immunity system.”
Bangladesh government started mass vaccination programme on February 7.
The country also started administering the second shots to the first dose takers from April 8.
The government suspended the first dose jab administered on April 26.
