Staff Reporter :
National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended for Phase 3 clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.
The committee made the recommendation after their virtual meeting on Wednesday, said a press release.
NTAC also advised the government to collect the vaccine through a fast-track approach by contacting vaccine-producing countries.
“If the clinical trials are conducted in Bangladesh, then the country can avail the vaccine on a priority basis,” the statement said.
The meeting sources said, members of the committee expressed their anxiety for delaying to accept proposals of Chinese Vaccine’s trials in Bangladesh. Most of them suggested accepting the Chinese vaccine’s trial soon.
Stressing on its huge importance, the committee suggested the government to make payments in advance, if necessary.
It also suggested for conducting clinical trials in Bangladesh as part of building immunity among people through vaccination.
The committee said in its recommendations that several non-vaccine producing
countries have been playing an important role by allowing clinical trials of vaccines developed by the UK, USA, Germany, China, Malaysia and Russia.
The NTAC also highlighted that Phase 3 trials of vaccine developed by Oxford was being tested in Brazil and India, and vaccine developed by Chinese bio-pharmaceutical company Sinovac is being tested in Brazil, Turkey, UAE, Indonesia, Chili and Philippines.
The statement said that without involving any trial with producing companies or countries it would be difficult to get vaccines soon even after it would be available for other countries.
It said the World Health Organization (WHO) distributes an initial usable vaccine considering the per capita income of the country.
If the WHO follows the same rules in the case of Covid-19, it will take a long time for Bangladesh to get the vaccine.
The committee suggested to the government to assess how much vaccine might be needed and what equipment or kits would have to make available for the vaccination.
The NATC also stressed to resume virtual health bulletin again. In addition it suggested to the health authority to arrange a question-answer session with media once in a week.
The committee opined that withdrawal of hotel facilities for doctors after giving treatment to the corona patients would not be a good decision. They should be allowed to pass quarantine in hotels as before.
