The countrywide lockdown will not be necessary if Covid-19 transmission can be controlled in Dhaka and its adjacent districts, says the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin came up with the remark at its daily virtual briefing on Covid-19 on Wednesday.
“We’re observing the infection rates both in Dhaka and the surrounding districts. If the situation worsens in the capital first, a lockdown will be imposed in Dhaka and then across the country,” he said.
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In response to a question about vaccines, Dr Amin said Bangladesh has a shortage of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine doses.
“Such deficit is there across the world. Although many stakeholders have assured us of providing vaccines from their stocks, nothing is final until we receive those,” he said.
Dr Amin said the vaccine that Oxford has is the vector vaccine and many other organizations have such vaccines.
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“For example, there is a vaccine that comes from the Russian research institute Gamalia Research Institute, another from the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Cancino, and Johnson & Johnson also has a similar one in the United States. Even if we get such alternative vaccines, it will be possible to solve the problem of the second dose vaccine in the country,” the DGHS spokesperson added.