Noman Mosharef :
Khosru Parvez, a senior Journalist of a daily newspaper in the capital Dhaka, received his first dose of coronavirus vaccine on March 9 and was scheduled for the second dose on May 9. But uncertainty looms over getting his second shot.
Khosru said, I am not sure whether I will get the second jab timely. When talking to The New Nation uncertainty is seen on his face.
Like Khosru Parvez, most of citizens in the country who are expecting to get their second doses first week of the next month fear the uncertainty.
Hasan Muhid, a private job holder in Dhaka, also experienced the same as he is scheduled for his second dose on May 13.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh suspended administering the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine from yesterday whereas 19,520 people have taken their first dose inoculation of Covid-19 jab last day.
On the other hand, DG of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam said on Sunday that Bangladesh would get 21 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the first week of May.
Among the doses, one lakh is of COVAX while Serum Institute of India would supply the rest, Khurshid Alam said.
Bangladesh signed a deal with India on December 13 to purchase 30 million doses of Covishield on an installment basis.
But until now, Dhaka has received 7 million doses in two installments in which Delhi has sent 3.2 million as a gift.
As of Tuesday, nearly 7.6 million residents of the country have received vaccine shots. Now the country has just 2.6 doses in stock, according to data by the government’s Directorate General of Health Services.
Until Thursday, nearly 7.2 million people have registered for inoculation, meaning the government needs at least 14.4 million doses to fulfil the registered requirement of two doses to complete the course. The government presently has a shortage of 4.2 million doses.
Meanwhile, tensions are mounting in Bangladesh though authorities assured residents of that there would be no crisis of vaccines as it has multiple sources, including China and Russia.
The Chinese Embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday issued a letter to the Bangladeshi Health Ministry, requesting “authorization of emergency use and letter of commitment for receipt of 500,000 Chinese government’s gift vaccines.”
The letter signed by Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming, however, did not mention any particular date to release the installment.
“I have already instructed to receive the Chinese vaccines and ordered to return the letter of authorization immediately,” said Health Minister Zahid Maleque. “We will give a positive reply to them [China] within one or two days.”
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also confirmed the media that on condition of not disclosing the formula, Bangladesh signed an agreement with Russia to locally manufacture its Sputnik V vaccine.
However, Momen has not specified a date to start the process and how much time it would take for final production.
On an average, more than 16,000 residents apply for vaccines daily, according to the latest report by the Health Ministry. And more than 150,000 receive a vaccine jab every day.
If the vaccination campaign continues at the current rate, the stock of vaccines will be finished by the first week of May.
Bangladesh, now passing through a worsening second wave of the pandemic with nearly 100 daily casualties, must resume contractual shipments with the remaining 23 million jabs from India.
A total of 11,150 people have died from the virus while infections stand at 7, 48,628, according to the government’s latest health report issued late Monday.
Due to the rapid escalation of the pandemic in India, it has decided to first prioritize local needs in its vaccination campaign before exporting vaccines.
Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, in an exclusive interview with a news outlet on Wednesday, vowed not to export vaccines until June-July.
Doctors have expressed confusion about the effectiveness of different brands of vaccines on the same patient.
Dr Nahidujjaman Sajjad said, as Bangladesh must need a new supply of vaccines by early May, it will be challenging for the country to meet the need within this short span of time.
He warned of the effectiveness of different brands on the same person.
“If Bangladesh is finally able to get vaccines from alternative sources, it means that a huge number of people who have already taken the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as a first dose have to take the second dose from another brand,” he said.
