Reza Mahmud :
Public health experts have urged the government to allow the private sector to import anti-coronavirus vaccines for ensuring new supply of jabs.
They made the call amid a supply shortage of Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
Bangladesh, facing a second wave of the pandemic, is racing to secure more vaccines after India halted exports of the AstraZeneca -Oxford University shot in response to a record surge in domestic infections.
“The government should allow the private sector to import vaccine. Local pharmaceutical companies and many private firms are seeking to procure their own supply of vaccines for their employees for the continued operation of their businesses as well as commercial use. They are allowed to purchase Covid-19 vaccines through a tripartite agreement with the government and the vaccine manufacturer,” Prof. Muzaherul Huq, former adviser, South-East Asia region, World Health Organization (WHO), and founder, Public Health Foundation of Bangladesh told The New Nation.
He added: ‘Earlier, we urged the government to allow the private sector to import and buy their vaccines directly from accredited sources amid the surge in Covid-19 cases. But it is yet to come up with the policy though the country faces vaccine shortage.”
As a supply line from India falters, Bangladesh’s drug regulator has already approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and China’s Sinopharm shot for emergency use against Covid-19 though the vaccines are yet to get authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Bangladesh signed a deal with India on December 13 to purchase 30 million doses Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine from Serum Institute of India on an installment basis.
But till now, Dhaka has received seven million doses in two installments, while Delhi has sent 3.2 million as a gift.
“The government should not monopolise purchase of Covid-19 vaccines. It should allow private sector to buy WHO approved vaccine at market prices when the demand for jabs is far higher than the supply. Many countries around the world have already allowed private companies to import AstraZeneca -Oxford University, Moderna or Pfizer shots without any restriction,” said Prof Dr Md Shahidullah, Chairman of National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19.
He said Bangladesh gets 10.2 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from neighboring Serum Institute of India. It is too little if we consider the population of our country. We have to inoculate 80 per cent of the total population to get ‘herd immunity,’ and to ensure economic recovery.
Bangladesh on February 8 began a nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.
Sources said private companies have already showed keen interest to import and inoculate people commercially because it would be very difficult task for the government alone to inoculate all of the people in Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh is a country of 165 million people. It is not easy for the government to inoculate all the people with Covid vaccine alone. So, the local pharmaceuticals companies asked the government to pave us the way to import jabs from different sources under private management for inoculating people,” SM Shafiuzzaman, Secretary General of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industries (BAPI) told The New Nation on Friday.
He said, it may not be a question of profit or loss, it is our duty to fight against the pandemic.
SM Shafiuzzaman however said that the government is yet to make a policy in this regard. If the government frames the policy, we are able to import vaccines,” he said.
