COVID-19 vaccine
Much-sought MoU signed for Sinopharm vaccine coproduction in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, China and Incepta Pharmaceutical Ltd on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on coproduction of Sinopharm vaccine in Bangladesh.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque and Abdul Muktadir, Chairman, Incepta Vaccine Limited signed the MoU from Dhaka while Li Can, President, China Sinopharm International Corporation and Zhu Jingjin, Vice President, China National Biotec Group Company Limited signed it from Beijing.
Incepta, a leading pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh, will bring in bulk and bottling, labeling and finishing of the vaccine will be done locally making the price relatively very cheap.
Read: Dhaka to receive 10 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses shortly
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming witnessed the signing of the MoU among relevant parties.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Health Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah, among others, spoke.
MoU signing on coproduction of Sinopharm jab Aug 16
Bangladesh will sign a memorandum of understanding on coproduction of Sinopharm vaccine with relevant parties on August 16.
The signing ceremony will be held at 3pm at BCPS auditorium Mohakhali in the city, said the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming will attend and witness the signing of the MoU.
Read: A million more Sinopharm doses land in Bangladesh
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen earlier said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on coproduction of Sinopharm vaccine in Bangladesh is ready for signing and it should be done without any delay.
“We’ve received it (MoU) and it’s with the Health Ministry. It should be done at any moment. I think the Health Ministry should dispose of it very quickly,” he told reporters.
Read: US okays Covid booster dose for those with weak immune systems
Dr Momen said the government of Bangladesh, Sinopharm and a local company (Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd) will sign the agreement.
He said Incepta will bring in bulk and bottling, labeling and finishing of the vaccine will be done locally making the price relatively very cheap.
US okays Covid booster dose for those with weak immune systems
Transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccines to better protect them as the Delta variant continues to surge, US regulators said Thursday.
The late-night announcement by the Food and Drug Administration applies to several million Americans who are especially vulnerable because of organ transplants, certain cancers or other disorders. Several other countries, including France and Israel, have similar recommendations.
It is harder for vaccines to rev up an immune system suppressed by certain medications and diseases, so those patients do not always get the same protection as otherwise healthy people – and small studies suggest for at least some, an extra dose may be the solution.
"Today's action allows doctors to boost immunity in certain immunocompromised individuals who need extra protection from Covid-19," Dr Janet Woodcock, the FDA's acting commissioner, said.
The FDA determined that transplant recipients and others with a similar level of compromised immunity can receive a third dose of the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna at least 28 days after getting their second shot. The FDA made no mention of immune-compromised patients who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The announcement comes as the extra-contagious Delta version of the coronavirus surges through much of the country, pushing new cases, hospitalisations and deaths to heights not seen since last winter.
Read: Why might COVID-19 vaccine boosters be necessary?
However, the FDA's decision only applies to this high-risk group, estimated to be no more than 3% of US adults. It’s not an opening for booster doses for the general population.
Health authorities consider the extra dose part of the initial prescription for the immune-compromised. For example, France since April has encouraged that such patients get a third dose four weeks after their regular second shot. Israel and Germany also recently began recommending a third dose of two-dose vaccines.
Separately, US health officials are continuing to closely monitor if and when average people's immunity wanes enough to require boosters for everyone – but for now, the vaccines continue to offer robust protection for the general population.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to formally recommend the extra shots for certain immune-compromised groups after a meeting Friday of its outside advisers.
Transplant recipients and others with suppressed immune systems know they are at more risk than the average American, and some have been seeking out extra doses on their own, even if it means lying about their vaccination status. The change means now the high-risk groups can more easily get another shot – but experts caution it is not yet clear exactly who should.
"This is all going to be very personalised," cautioned Dr Dorry Segev, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who is running a major National Institutes of Health study of extra shots for organ recipients. For some people, a third dose "increases their immune response. Yet for some people, it does not seem to. We do not quite know who is who yet."
Read: Head of UN health agency seeks vaccine booster moratorium
One recent study of more than 650 transplant recipients found just over half harboured virus-fighting antibodies after two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines – although generally less than in otherwise healthy vaccinated people. Another study of people with rheumatoid arthritis and similar autoimmune diseases found only those who use particular medications have very poor vaccine responses.
There is little data on how well a third dose works, and if it causes any safety problems such as an increased risk of organ rejection.
Wednesday, Canadian researchers reported that transplant recipients were more likely to have high levels of antibodies if they got a third dose than those given a dummy shot for comparison. Other small studies have similarly found that some transplant recipients respond to
A million more Sinopharm doses land in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Friday received ten lakh (1 million) doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine from China as a gift.
This new batch of China-aided vaccine doses arrived just after former batches of 11 lakh gifted Chinese Sinopharm vaccine doses received on May 12 and June 13.
Read: Dhaka to receive 10 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses shortly
A chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the consignment arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 6pm.
Besides, another Biman flight is scheduled to leave for China on 14 August to bring more doses of the vaccine.
Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (Public Relations) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, confirmed the information.
Earlier, 17 lakh more doses of Sinopharm reached here as part of the Covax facility.
On the other hand, the government on Wednesday approved a proposal to purchase six crores more doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine from China.
Besides, the government previously paid China for 1.5 crore doses of the vaccine, of which 70 lakh doses have already arrived in the country.
In fighting against the virus, China and Bangladesh have always been standing together, supporting and assisting each other in times of difficulties and challenges, vividly illustrating the profound friendship between the two countries, said the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka.
The pandemic is yet another reminder that the humanity rise and fall together with a shared future, it said.
Confronted by a pandemic like COVID-19, the vision of building a global community of health for all, tide over this trying time through solidarity and cooperation must be championed and any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus be firmly rejected, said the Embassy.
US OK’d extra Covid vaccine dose for those with weak immune systems
U.S. regulators say transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to better protect them as the delta variant continues to surge.
The late-night announcement Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration applies to several million Americans who are especially vulnerable because of organ transplants, certain cancers or other disorders. Several other countries, including France and Israel, have similar recommendations.
It’s harder for vaccines to rev up an immune system suppressed by certain medications and diseases, so those patients don’t always get the same protection as otherwise healthy people — and small studies suggest for at least some, an extra dose may be the solution.
Also read: The link between the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy
“Today’s action allows doctors to boost immunity in certain immunocompromised individuals who need extra protection from COVID-19,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA’s acting commissioner, said in a statement.
The FDA determined that transplant recipients and others with a similar level of compromised immunity can receive a third dose of the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna at least 28 days after getting their second shot. The FDA made no mention of immune-compromised patients who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The announcement comes as the extra-contagious delta version of the coronavirus surges through much of the country, pushing new cases, hospitalizations and deaths to heights not seen since last winter.
Importantly, the FDA’s decision only applies to this high-risk group, estimated to be no more than 3% of U.S. adults. It’s not an opening for booster doses for the general population.
Also read: Moderna says vaccine 93% effective but seeks 3rd-shot in fall
Instead, health authorities consider the extra dose part of the initial prescription for the immune-compromised. For example, France since April has encouraged that such patients get a third dose four weeks after their regular second shot. Israel and Germany also recently began recommending a third dose of two-dose vaccines.
Separately, U.S. health officials are continuing to closely monitor if and when average people’s immunity wanes enough to require boosters for everyone — but for now, the vaccines continue to offer robust protection for the general population.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to formally recommend the extra shots for certain immune-compromised groups after a meeting Friday of its outside advisers.
Transplant recipients and others with suppressed immune systems know they’re at more risk than the average American and some have been seeking out extra doses on their own, even if it means lying about their vaccination status. The change means now the high-risk groups can more easily get another shot — but experts caution it’s not yet clear exactly who should.
“This is all going to be very personalized,” cautioned Dr. Dorry Segev, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who is running a major National Institutes of Health study of extra shots for organ recipients. For some people, a third dose “increases their immune response. Yet for some people it does not seem to. We don’t quite know who’s who yet.”
One recent study of more than 650 transplant recipients found just over half harbored virus-fighting antibodies after two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines — although generally less than in otherwise healthy vaccinated people. Another study of people with rheumatoid arthritis and similar autoimmune diseases found only those who use particular medications have very poor vaccine responses.
There’s little data on how well a third dose works, and if it causes any safety problems such as an increased risk of organ rejection. Wednesday, Canadian researchers reported that transplant recipients were more likely to have high levels of antibodies if they got a third dose than those given a dummy shot for comparison. Other small studies have similarly found that some transplant recipients respond to a third dose while others still lack enough protection.
How Mamtaz Begum got double-jabbed in 5 minutes
A 60-year-old woman Thursday allegedly received back-to-back two jabs of the Covid-19 vaccine within five minutes at Sheikh Sayera Khatun Medical College and Hospital in Gopalganj upazila.
The woman named Mamtaz Begum, 65, resident of municipal ward-3 has received the jabs around 12pm today.
Mamtaz Begum said after entering the female room and showing her card at the centre a nurse gave her the first shot, sitting her on the bench.
As she felt dizzy, Mamtaz Begum remained in the seat for a few minutes.
In the meantime, another nurse came and hurriedly gave her another shot telling her to move from the seat fast, said Mamtaz Begum.
When she asked if she had to take two back to back doses of the vaccines the nurse became aware of the mistake.
However the UNB reporter couldn’t contact the nurse who was on duty at that time.
Sakibur Rahman, an official from the civil surgeon’s office said the nurse mistakenly went to give her the second jab to Mamtaz Begam as she was sitting at the spot of receiving the jab starching her hand.
“As soon as she said she got jabbed once the nurse stopped and she only received a poke of the needle,” he said.
However Mamtaz Begum has been asked to contact the health authorities in case of any health difficulties, said Sakibur Rahman.
Although certainly not advised, no real adverse effect as such has been identified from getting double-jabbed in quick succession, mainly because cases are extremely, extremely rare.
Bangladesh’s vaccination drive set to gather pace as another ‘1 crore doses’ coming by Aug
Bangladesh is going to take the deliveries of over 1 crore more Covid-19 vaccine doses by this month which is expected to give a further boost to its inoculation drive, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
“Around 54 lakh doses will arrive this week while another 50 lakh later this month," the minister said while addressing an event arranged by Bangladesh Society of Medicine at a city hotel on Thursday.
Read: First batch of purchased Chinese vaccines to arrive soon: Envoy
He said around 1.75 crore people have so far received Covid-19 vaccine shots and crore more have got registered to do so. “We need 26-27 crore doses of Covid vaccine. All will get vaccine jabs in phases.”
Frustration grows as chaos continues at Bangladesh’s vaccination centres
Vaccination centres across the country drew huge crowds on the 5th day of the mass vaccination drive, creating a chaotic situation everywhere and raising the risk of the virus transmission.
After a reality check at different vaccination centers, UNB correspondents saw long queues of people standing close to each other with little or no regard to social distancing rules.
Hundreds of jab-seekers, both male and female, turned up at the small vaccination centres with or without online registrations, overwhelming its medical staff.
The medical staff at the vaccination centres and the vaccine aspirants pointed fingers at each other because of mismanagement and slow pace of vaccination.
According to the UNB correspondents, the number of staff was too inadequate to smoothly vaccinate such a huge number of people.
As the ruthless Delta variant of Covid-19 keeps spreading like wildfire, Bangladesh on Saturday kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating 35 lakh people in six days.
However, the drive has not been free of controversies as mismanagement and anomalies across the country became a topic of discussions in the last few days.
Even on the very first day of the drive, UNB reported about the chaotic situation which arose at the city’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.
Nearly 4,000 vaccine seekers, including men and women, were seen waiting in queues in the corridors of its first and second floors with the vaccination going on at a snail’s pace.
Read: Covid kills 237 more in Bangladesh as Delta strain takes hold
Outraged by the “mismanagement”, the vaccine seekers said the situation turned worse as there was no arrangement for women to stand in any separate queue.
Tired of the long wait in the queue, the irate crowds got involved in quarrels with Ansar personnel and the hospital staff.
Some of them were seen trying to push each other to enter the vaccination rooms venting their anger amid chaos.
Inside the vaccination rooms, it was found that only two to three nurses were providing shots while another two or three medical staff were checking vaccination registration papers. They had to struggle a lot to cope with the situation for lack of manpower.
Vaccination drive in Bangladesh: Procurement of 60 mln Sinopharm doses gets nod
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Service Division to procure 60 million doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine as the government is trying to gear up its nationwide vaccination drive.
According to officials, the vaccine doses will arrive in the country by November this year.
Read: Pragmatic talks underway over vaccine procurement
But the price of the vaccine doses was not disclosed as there is a non-disclosure agreement with China in this regard, they said.
“We hope the vaccine doses will reach the country by November this year. Since we’ve a non-disclosure agreement, we can’t disclose the price,” Shamsul Arefin, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, told reporters while briefing them on the issue.
The virtual meeting, chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, also approved nine other procurement proposals of different ministries.
The finance minister said, “We’ve calculated that we need to vaccinate some 13.82 crore people. So, we have to buy 27.65 crore vaccine doses. We’ve 2.55 crore vaccine doses in our hands and the remaining amounts need to be collected.”
Earlier, Bangladesh purchased 15 million doses of Sinopharm Covid vaccine from China at a rate lower than what was set in an earlier deal.
Read: Govt. mishandled procurement of Covid-19 vaccine, allege BNP
Bangladesh earlier received two million doses of vaccine as a gift from China.
On May 27 this year, the same committee approved the procurement of the same Chinese jabs at $10 per dose.
China was then upset by the disclosure of the price saying it was a breach of a non-disclosure clause agreed by the two governments.
Unable to get jab, man thrashes health centre staff
Unable to get the Covid-19 vaccine, a 32-year-old man allegedly thrashed the storekeeper of Atpara Upazila Health Complex in Netrokona on Tuesday.
Nurul Amin, the son of Gias Uddin Ahmed of Mobarakpur village in Atpara upazila, has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
Read: Khulna man gets 2 doses of vaccine in one minute
Upazila Health Complex sources said that the vaccination drive began at the centre on Tuesday morning but it ran out of Covid jabs by noon.
When Mirza Ataur Rahman Jewel, the storekeeper of the hospital, came out and announced the same to people who were in the queue to get the jab, Nurul got agitated and attacked him.
On information, police rushed to the spot and arrested Nurul.
Read: Mission Inoculation: Military chopper takes jabs to remote Rangamati hills
Md Zafar Iqbal, officer-in-charge of Atpara Police Station, said a case was filed against Nurul in this regard. "He will be produced in a court on Wednesday," he said.