Reza Mahmud :
Bangladesh is urgently searching for Covid-19 vaccines amid uncertainty over the vaccination of 12 lakh people who received the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs.
“We are looking for coronavirus vaccines desperately and we are ready to accept any shipment from any country, including the United State,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told CNN in a live interview on Friday.
Dr Momen said the big problem is that a large number of people in Bangladesh who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca could not take the second dose.
“Because we don’t have any more, we can’t give them the second dose. That’s creating a lot of problems for us,” said the Foreign Minister.
Talking to reporters at State guesthouse Padma on Thursday, Dr Momen said the government is giving its best efforts to get vaccines connecting multiple countries – the United States, China, Canada, Russia and the UK – apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh’s urgent needs.
Highlighting various government efforts in acquiring vaccines urgently from various countries, he said, the discussion with China and Russia is almost at the final stage while they are expecting a positive reply from the US on the vaccine front. “Hope everything will be settled within a week,” he added.
Replying to a question, Dr Momen said the health ministry’s inefficiency in preparing documents related to vaccine purchases has been delaying getting vaccines from China and Russia.
He also said India never said that they will not give vaccine doses to Bangladesh but failed to deliver. “India was requested to provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh as a gift to meet its emergency need if India has an embargo on export.”
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr Momen requested his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar to ensure the supply of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Bangladesh as soon as possible to meet Bangladesh’s needs.
Bangladesh began its nationwide inoculation drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
India donated 2 million doses of Covishield to Bangladesh during the last week of January, with another 1.2 million doses given during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in March.
In November last year, the government of Bangladesh signed a tripartite agreement with the SII and Beximco Pharma to procure 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, at $4 per shot.
However, Bangladesh has received only 7 million doses, with uncertainty surrounding the delivery of the next few batches, following New Delhi’s temporary ban on the export of locally manufactured vaccines recently to meet domestic demand amid an unprecedented spike in Covid-19 cases.
This has forced Bangladesh to look for the crucial jabs elsewhere.
Health experts said it was important for Bangladesh to explore all “possible sources” for the vaccines without further delay.
“We need to inoculate around 120 million people to achieve herd immunity, and it should be done as quickly as possible,” said Professor Muzaherul Huq, former adviser of the South-East Asia region, World Health Organization (WHO).
He said the government is giving its all-out efforts to get vaccines from multiple countries. “The authorities should have explore all options much before the beginning of vaccine crisis. Relying on single source for vaccine was big mistake for the government,” he added.
“Bangladesh needs to get involved with the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing taking the co-production proposals from China and Russia,” added Prof. Huq, who is also the founder of Bangladesh’s Public Health Foundation.
Md Sayedur Rahman, chairman of pharmacology department at the BSMMU, said, “The government should purchase the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from alternative sources even it at higher prices to complete the inoculation of the people who received the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs.
He said the government should restart giving people their first shots once it has enough vaccines.
Meanwhile, uncertainty over new vaccine supply creates huge outcry among the people who received first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“People are coming everyday without getting message on cell phones about second dose. They ask us that their date is near but no SMS has been sent. We ask them to be patient and wait until getting a SMS, but most of them insist us,” said an official preferring anonymity from Shahid Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital center.
Another official from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital center also expressed similar experience.
Dr. Md. Khalilur Rahman, Director of Shahid Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital told The New Nation on Friday, “People are creating pressure on officials, but we cannot inoculate anyone without SMS.”
Dr. Robed Amin, Spokesman of the Directorate General of Health Services told The New Nation, “People are hugely creating pressures for securing their vaccines. But any new source yet is to confirm for supplying us the vaccine.”
