It’s a shocking that the second wave of Covid- 19 pandemic has started again in Bangladesh like the European countries and the United States. According to the Directorate General of Health Services, 36 people died of the virus on Thursday in the country. With this, the total number of deaths has reached 7,192, while 1,134 newly infected during the day.
So, we want coronavirus vaccines on an urgent basis to deal with the pandemic as winter already hits the country. Though the Health Ministry officials are expecting that corona vaccine would be available in January next, the health experts said it would not be possible to arrive in the market so soon.
It is to be noted that the government signed in November a tripartite agreement with Serum Institute of India and local vendor BEXIMCO to import three crore dozes of Oxford vaccines.
The concerned authorities must also consider the fact that after procurement, the costly vaccines need to be preserved cautiously, or else their efficiency might be compromised.
Meanwhile, the National Technical Advisory Committee on tackling COVID-19 has warned about the second wave of the virus, stressing the need for steps to ensure the health rules. We hope this committee must also keep a constant watch so that no corrupt person can abuse with the vaccines.
In a study conducted recently by the United Nations Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh, it was revealed that the confidence of 24 per cent of the people in the health sector was at a low level. Only 23 per cent had confidence in the sector. The confidence of the remaining 53 per cent was medium. In fact, the people in general have no faith in the health sector.
Alongside the prevailing weaknesses in the health sector, further discrepancies have appeared during the coronavirus pandemic. These included corruptions, a lack of preparation, weak coordination, low quality services as well as discrimination in treatment or no treatment at all due to weaknesses in leadership.
Amidst all this anxiety and uncertainty, allegations of corruption arose about health sector officials in collusion with JKG, Regent and such shady establishments. Even the pandemic failed to halt corruption.
In this context, we are surprised to learn that even after the two-month holiday from March 26 to May 30 due to coronavirus outbreak, no parliamentary standing committee meeting of the Health Ministry was held. The JS standing committees of other ministries began to hold meetings in July again but this committee has not held a single meeting, though it should have been more active of all, given the prevalence of the pandemic.
We have no adequate treatment for coronavirus except for the VIPs. For the benefit of ordinary people who die unaccountably vaccine must be available urgently at affordable price. The Advisory Committee as in existence must be assigned with the responsibility of fair distribution. The vaccines must be saved from mismanagement of corrupt politics.
