Reza Mahmud :
Covid-19 contamination rate is on rise in Bangladesh again after Eid festival.
Human health experts say that the country is lagging behind on curbing the contaminations of the deadly disease due to insufficient vaccination.
“Bangladesh needed minimum 22 to 25 crore doses of covid-19 vaccines to achieve herd immunity. But the country ensured only one crore and seven lakh shots of jabs so far. The lack of insufficient inoculations is a major reason of lagging behind the target in curbing the pandemic,” Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Advisor of the World Health Organisation told The New Nation on Thursday.
He said, to bring the Covid under control, we are to control and contain its contamination. The safer margin for Bangladesh should be less than one percent.
But if we can contain it below the five percent for two weeks, we can be at a safer situation.
This is achievable and we are to achieve it, he stressed on.
When contacted, Human Health Expert Dr. Lenin Chowdhury told The New Nation on Thursday, “Bangladesh secured only one crore and seven lakh doses of vaccines from two sources. It can inoculate about three percent of our people only.”
He said, “Our health authorities had insufficient measures about screening vaccines, and dependance on one source only.”
Besides, about 15 to 18 lakh first dose recipients’ of AstraZeneca vaccines fell into deep uncertainty over getting the second dose in time.
Public health experts said the best way to achieve the goal of containing the fatal disease is to strictly maintain the health measures to prevent contamination and to develop immunity by either infection or by being vaccinated.
Many countries are now choosing herd immunity against the virus and they want to achieve it by vaccinating at least 70 percent of their population.
It means Bangladesh, a country of 170 million population, needs its 119 million people at least to be vaccinated, said Professor Dr. Muzaherul Huq.
Bangladesh needs this amount of vaccines in double dose, he said. As per the experts’ assumption, the great mistake Bangladesh has made that they tried from a single source India, which is now unable to provide the vaccine. Rather they are in need of vaccines from other sources including China. With limited vaccine, the country could not even provide 2nd dose of vaccine to people who received 1st dose.
Bangladesh is now trying to procure vaccine from other countries and sources.
Countries like the UK, the US, Turkey, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Canada brought examples of achieving success of curbing the virus through vaccination.
Study suggested that Covid-19 infections in the U.K. fell by about 80 pc, while the country vaccinated 90 percent of its population.
Meanwhile, US vaccinated 85. 4 pc of its population and has gained exemplary success on containing covid-19 contaminations.
Such as, China vaccinated 35.5 pc, Turkey 33.1 pc, Italy 51.1 pc, Canada 55.7 pc and Saudi Arabia 37 pc of their populations respectively, and curbed infections.
Dr. Robed Amin, Spokesman of Directorate General of Health Services told The New Nation, “The government is trying its best to bring vaccines from different sources to ensure vaccination of our people.”
