COVID-19 vaccine
Covid vaccine: Fakirhat becomes first upazila to jab 100% of eligible population
Fakirhat in Bagerhat district, has outpaced 494 other upazilas in the country to become the first where 100 percent of its eligible population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine – a remarkable achievement at a time when countries around the world are struggling to convince people to take the Covid vaccine.
Fakirhat on Thursday became the first upazila to inoculate 100 percent of its eligible population with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In this upazila of 1.63 lakh people, for months, day after day, long and orderly lines formed outside the vaccination centres.
Students, teachers, farmers, potters – young and old, rich and poor, highly and barely educated –showed up when their names were called; then returned weeks later for the second dose.
"Fakirhat is the first upazila in Bangladesh to have achieved 100 percent vaccination of all eligible population. This is quite an achievement. We will use Fakirhat experience in other upazilas of the country," Lokman Hossain Miah, senior secretary to the Health Services Division, said today while addressing a programme in the upazila.
"All the eligible target group people above 12 years of age in Fakirhat have been vaccinated. Around 1.63 lakh people live here. Against an eligible population of 1,26,000 in the upazila, 1,20,000 people have been inoculated and 6,000 residents who live outside the upazila also got jabbed – that makes it 100 percent vaccination," Fakirhat upazila parishad Chairman Swapan Kumar Das said.
Swapan credited the success to several campaigns, including mega vaccination drives, special camps for senior citizens, door-to-door campaigns, and the engagement of public leaders at all levels.
"We need 27 crore vaccine doses. The government has bought 21 crore vaccine shots. Also, it has got 10 crore doses as gifts," Lokman said.
"We have started administering booster doses to people over 60 years of age and want to fully vaccinate 100 percent of the target population against Covid-19 by March," Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general of the health directorate, said at the programme.
Read: Access to safe, effective vaccines to be ensured in Bangladesh: Japan
EIB provides $283mn soft loan for Bangladesh’s healthcare development
European Investment Bank (EIB) provides Bangladesh USD $ 283.06 million (EUR 250 million) to purchase Covid-19 vaccine and strengthen the healthcare system.
A finance contract (FC) was signed in this regard between Bangladesh and EIB under a project titled 'Bangladesh Covid-19 Public Health Programme'.
Read:BB fixes 15pc installment for CMSME to avoid loans classifying
Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Edvardas Bumsteinas, head of Asia and Pacific Division, and Imanol Lecue Gurtubay, Legal Counsel, signed the loan agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and EIB respectively.
The main objectives of the finance programme are to purchase and supply vaccines for the prevention of Covid-19 infections, strengthening the healthcare system and expanding social security in the health sector.
“It’s a concessional loan to the government of Bangladesh, with a repayment period of twenty years, including five years’ grace period. This is their first-ever highest contribution as part of their development cooperation to our country,” Yasmin said.
Read: No more extensions to moratorium on loan classification beyond Dec 31: BB
EIB is an important development partner of Bangladesh. It co-financed four projects along with ADB amounting to $423 million (USD) in railway and water treatment plants of Dhaka Wasa. Unlike the previous co-financed contribution, this is the first time standalone contribution for Bangladesh.
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for children?
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for children?
Yes, U.S. regulators authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for younger children after millions of 12- to 17-year-olds already safely got the shot, the only one available for children in the country.
More than 5 million children ages 5 to 11 have gotten a first dose since early November, and government safety monitoring has not uncovered any surprise problems.
Read:Omicron less likely to put you in the hospital, studies say
This age group gets kid-size doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a third of the amount used to vaccinate everyone 12 or older. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the shots based on a study showing the kid-size doses were 91% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. The 5- to 11-year-olds developed virus-fighting antibodies as strong as those of teens and young adults who got regular doses, with similar or fewer annoying reactions such as sore arms, fever or achiness.
The FDA assessed the safety of the kid-size doses in 3,100 vaccinated youngsters. Regulators deemed that enough data, considering the trove of safety information from hundreds of millions of larger doses given to adults and teens worldwide.
Very rarely, teens and young adults given the Pfizer vaccine or a similar one made by Moderna experience a serious side effect, heart inflammation, or what doctors call myocarditis. It’s mostly in young men or teen boys, and usually after the second dose. They tend to recover quickly, and after intense scrutiny U.S. health authorities concluded the vaccine’s benefits outweigh that small risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into a handful of reports of heart inflammation, mostly mild and brief, among 5- to 11-year-olds since vaccinations of that age group began.
Read: U.S. announces first recorded Omicron-related death
To put the risk in context, COVID-19 also causes heart inflammation, often a more severe kind, said Dr. Matthew Oster, a pediatric cardiologist at Emory University. It also sometimes occurs in children who get a multisystem inflammatory syndrome after a coronavirus infection.
Before the pandemic, doctors regularly diagnosed heart inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infections or medications, again mostly in teen boys and young men. Oster said one theory is that testosterone and puberty play a role, which is partly why many experts expect any vaccine-related risk would be lower for younger kids getting a smaller dose.
Moderna: Initial booster data shows good results on omicron
Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant.
Moderna said lab tests showed the half-dose booster shot increased by 37 times the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies able to fight omicron.
And a full-dose booster was even stronger, triggering an 83-fold jump in antibody levels, although with an increase in the usual side effects, the company said. While half-dose shots are being used for most Moderna boosters, a full-dose third shot has been recommended for people with weakened immune systems.
Also read: Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19
Moderna announced the preliminary laboratory data in a press release and it hasn’t yet undergone scientific review. But testing by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, announced last week by Dr. Anthony Fauci, found a similar jump.
Pfizer’s testing likewise found its COVID-19 vaccine triggered a similarly big jump in omicron-fighting antibodies. The vaccines made by Pfizer and by Moderna, both made with mRNA technology, are used by many countries around the world to fight the coronavirus.
Also read: WHO: Omicron detected in 89 countries, cases doubling fast
Current booster effective against Omicron: Health Minister
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday said the booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine will work against the newly emerged variant Omicron.
“We’ve information that Omicron can largely be prevented by taking booster doses,” he said while inaugurating the trial administration of booster doses at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in Mohakhali in the morning.
As the government has enough stock of vaccines, the decision to administer the third booster dose has been taken, said Minister Maleque.
“Anyone who has taken the first two doses of any Covid-19 vaccines is eligible to receive the Pfizer booster shot,” he said.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh rolls out booster dose in Dhaka
Above 60 senior citizens, patients with comorbidities and frontliners will get the booster shots on a priority basis, the minister said.
He said: “As per our plan to bring 70 per cent of the population under vaccination, we need to vaccinate 12 crore people by April, 2020.”
Booster doses for health workers from Sunday: Dhaka Civil Surgeon
Covid-19 booster doses will be administered to health workers on trial basis from Sunday, said Dr Abu Hossain Md Mainul Ahsan, the Civil Surgeon of Dhaka district.
“Initially, the booster doses will be administered on a low scale as a caution. After observing the effects of the vaccine for a few days, it’ll be rolled out for others,” Dr Mainul Ahsan told journalists on Saturday in a virtual briefing.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday said the booster doses will be rolled out from the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) at city’s Mohakhali from Sunday morning.
Dr Mainul Ahsan said, “Following the health minister’s directive, we’re ready to start administering the shots from tomorrow. There’ll be no shortage of jabs.”
Also read: Booster doses to be rolled out on trial basis from Sunday: Health Minister
Dr Ahsan went on saying, “Initially, doctors, nurses and health workers will get the doses, and senior citizens will get it in next phase, keeping their comorbidities in mind.” said the Civil Surgeon.
Pfizer tests extra COVID shot for kids under 5 in setback
Pfizer said Friday it was changing plans and testing three doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in babies and preschoolers after the usual two shots didn’t appear strong enough for some of the children.
Pfizer announced the change after a preliminary analysis found 2- to 4-year-olds didn’t have as strong an immune response as expected to the very low-dose shots the company is testing in the youngest children.
It’s disappointing news for families anxious to vaccinate their tots. Pfizer had expected data on how well the vaccines were working in children under 5 by year’s end, and it’s not clear how long the change will delay a final answer.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said if the three-dose study is successful, they plan to apply for emergency authorization sometime in the first half of 2022.
Read: Pfizer says COVID booster offers protection against omicron
A kid-sized version of Pfizer’s vaccine already is available for 5- to 11-year-olds, one that’s a third of the dose given to everyone else 12 and older.
For children younger than 5, Pfizer is testing an even smaller dose, just 3 micrograms or a tenth of the adult dose.
Researchers analyzed a subset of youngsters in the study a month after their second dose to see if the tots developed levels of virus-fighting antibodies that were similar to teens and young adults who get the regular shots.
The very low-dose shots appeared to work in youngsters under age 2, who produced similar antibody levels. But the immune response in 2- to 4-year-olds was lower than the study required, Pfizer vaccine research chief Kathrin Jansen said Friday in a call with investors.
Read: Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill
Rather than trying a higher-dose shot for the preschoolers, Pfizer decided to expand the study to evaluate three of the very low-dose shots in all the study participants — from 6 months up to age 5. That third shot will come at least two months after the youngsters’ second dose.
No safety concerns have been spotted in the study, the companies said.
Jansen cited other data showing a booster shot for people 16 and older restores strong protection, a jump in immunity that scientists hope also will help fend off the new omicron variant.
The companies also are preparing to test a booster for 5- to 11-year-olds, who are just now getting their two-dose vaccinations. And they are testing different dose options for teen boosters.
Jansen said if the additional pediatric testing is successful, “we would have a consistent three-dose vaccine approach for all ages.”
Booster doses to be rolled out on trial basis from Sunday: Health Minister
Covid-19 booster doses will be administered on trial basis from Sunday, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
However, the minister did not mention the time and vaccination center where the booster doses will be administered.
The minister said this at a Pitha-Puli festival in Manikganj on Friday.
Maleque said the government decided to administer booster doses to senior citizens aged above 60 and frontliners, including doctors, nurses, government officials and journalists, who got the two doses of vaccine six months ago.
He said that all the activities to administer booster doses are underway. “The Prime Minister also has given approval to start a booster dose.”
In this regard, steps to update the ‘Surokkha’ app are in progress. Besides, lists of those who are eligible for booster dose are being prepared, said the minister.
Read: Covid booster doses to start within 7-10 days: Minister
Zahid Maleque said seven crore people received the first dose and 4.5 crore people have been fully vaccinated so far in Bangladesh.
There is no shortage of covid vaccines in the country. Currently, seven lakh doses of Pfizer vaccines are in stock. In all, 4.45 crore doses of vaccine are in stock.
Two crore more doses of vaccine will arrive next month, the minister added.
On Wednesday, Zahid Maleque said at a programme while receiving 80 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine donated by Japan and UK through the global COVAX facility that the drive to administer Covid-19 booster doses will be in the next seven to ten days.
On Monday, the Cabinet directed the authorities concerned, particularly the Health Minister and the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, to work on a precise guideline over the campaign of booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.
PM also instructed earlier the technical committee to work on a precise guideline over when the booster dose campaign needs to be started.
On Sunday, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended booster shots to the citizens above 60 and frontliners.
Read: National Committee recommends booster dose for above 60 citizens, frontliners
The senior citizens and frontliners who got the two doses of vaccine six months ago will get the booster dose, the NTAC recommended at a meeting.
It also suggested all to take steps to limit public gatherings, meetings and rallies to contain the spread of Omicron.
On December 9, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Omicron is now present in 57 countries and asked all countries to stay alert about the new variant.
A WHO panel named the Coronavirus variant ‘Omicron’ and classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant, which is still a scourge driving higher cases of sickness and death in Europe and parts of the USA.
Amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) suggested the implementation of 15 instructions to prevent the spread of the new variant and urged all concerned to take measures to enforce the instructions.
Booster dose in Bangladesh: Authorities asked to work on a precise guideline
The Cabinet on Monday directed the authorities concerned, particularly the Health Minister and the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, to work on a precise guideline over the campaign of booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.
The directive came from a virtual meeting of the Cabinet in the wake of the rapidly transmissible variant ‘Omicron’ in different parts of the world.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting, joining it from her official residence Ganobhaban.
The other ministers and officials concerned were connected from the Bangladesh Secretariat.
“The technical committee and the Health Minister were instructed so that they remain ready for whether the booster dose would be given free or on payment and place a guideline following discussions,” said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters at the Secretariat after the meeting.
He said the Cabinet asked all to remain careful about Omicron as the new Covid-19 strain is spreading rapidly in the world.
“The Prime Minister repeatedly directed that we’ve to be very careful,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
He said the PM also instructed earlier the technical committee to work on a precise guideline over when the booster dose campaign needs to be started.
Since the world renowned scientists recommended booster doses to stay safe from Covid-19, the meeting asked all to keep focus on how the booster doses can be rolled out in Bangladesh, he said.
Mentioning that two people were detected with Omicron in Bangladesh, Anwarul Islam said both of them are men of Bangladesh Cricket Board, who entered the bio-secure bubble at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon, directly from the Airport.
The duo did not come in close contact with anyone at the airport and their family members and any others, he said.
He said he has got a complete protocol over Omicron from his close friends and his spouse who are senior consultants in South Africa.
In the protocol, they said the variant spreads rapidly and its effect is not as dangerous as that of Delta strain, said the Cabinet Secretary.
Also read: Govt decides to administer Covid booster dose to above-60 citizens
AstraZeneca to seek India nod for antibody cocktail
British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca NSE 1.67 % said it intends to apply for emergency use authorisation (EUA) of its long-acting Covid-19 monoclonal antibody cocktail Evusheld in India reported The Economic Times.
"The US Food and Drug Administration's EUA approval of AZD7442 for the prevention of Covid-19 is an important milestone globally... we have already initiated engagements with the relevant health authorities in India to provide them with the latest evidence," said Gagandeep Singh Bedi, managing director, AstraZeneca India Pharma.
Evusheld is a combination of tixagevimab and cilgavimab. The drug received EUA in the US on Thursday for pre-exposure prophylaxis or preventing infection in people aged 12 years and above who are immunocompromised and those who may not mount an adequate immune response to Covid-19 vaccination, as well as those individuals for whom Covid-19 vaccination is not recommended.
Also read: AstraZeneca, Pfizer vaccines effective against Delta Covid-19 variants: Study
Recipients should not be currently infected with or had recent known exposure to a person infected with SARS-CoV-2. The pivotal phase-3 data showed Evusheld provides at least six months of protection. About 2% of the global population is considered at increased risk of an inadequate response to a Covid-19 vaccine.
"In India, this percentage could be a bit higher given the problem of underdiagnosis and ignorance. This includes people with blood cancers or other cancers being treated with chemotherapy, and those taking medications after an organ transplant or who are taking immunosuppressive drugs for conditions including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis," said AstraZeneca.
Also read: 77.8% efficacy, robust antibody response: 5 points from Lancet's new study on Covaxin