Reza Mahmud :
Secretary of Disaster Management and Relief Ministry Md. Mohsin and a government hospital’s Ward Master have been infected with covid-19 after administering vaccines.
Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Md Mohsin has contracted the coronavirus 12 days after being inoculated for this disease.
“The Relief Secretary was vaccinated at the National Cancer Research Institute and Hospital on February 7 with all the staff of the ministry. On February 13, the secretary felt fever and other symptoms of covid infection. He tested covid on February 19 and the result
was corona positive,” Md. Selim Hossain, Senior Information Officer of the ministry said on Thursday.
He said that the secretary is now under medical treatment in United Hospital in the capital.
“He (Md.Mohsin) had breathing complexities. His oxygen saturation decreased after tested Covid-19 positive. Now, the shortness of breath has abated while the oxygen saturation has also improved,” Selim Hossain said.
On the other hand, Md. Sazzad Hossain, an Ward Master of Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital tested corona positive on February 23 after being vaccinated on February 8.
Brigadier General Kazi Md Rashid Un Nabi, Director of the hospital said, “He (Sazzad) tested covid-19 positive after taking the jab. He might be contaminated before being vaccinated. He is now in isolation in his house.”
When contacted, Sazzad told The New Nation, “I feel just fever. I suffer nothing more complexity.”
Meanwhile, Professor Dr. Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General of the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS) said, vaccination does not mean completely eliminating the risk of transmission in all cases.
“Infection of the disease will be reduced administering the vaccine. However, the contamination can still occur even after vaccination. No vaccine producer has said that their vaccine is 100 percent effective,” Dr. Sultana said.
The Additional Director General said also the clinical trials of all types of vaccines showed that a portion of people still may be infected even after being vaccinated.
“In addition, a single dose of the vaccine will not be completely effective against the fatal virus. It requires two doses. The efficacy of the vaccine in preventing the infection will become clear only after the two doses are administered,” she said.
The ADG said, “The vaccine will help reduce the severity of the illness even if anyone gets infected after taking the jab. We need to look into the case of the secretary to determine what occurred.”
Professor Dr. Nazrul Islam, former Vice-Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said, “If anyone takes the jab after being contaminated, he may be tested positive after vaccinated. In such case the vaccine may not work at all.”
He said after taking of boosting shot or the second dose, one may not be infected.
“But if any vaccine taker’s immune system is found seriously weak and get huge complexity may not be safe from infection. Such case may be found in one amongst thousands of people,” the professor said.
Bangladesh started vaccination of February 7 to eliminate COVID-19 using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by India’s Serum Institute. As per the government’s announcement, people need to take two doses of the vaccine.
AstraZeneca said the vaccine has been shown to be safe in clinical trials and has provided effective protection to 70 percent of the volunteers.
