Covid vaccine
Bangladesh to receive 3 mn doses of Moderna vaccine Monday
Bangladesh will receive a consignment of Moderna vaccine doses on Monday evening.
The 3 million vaccine doses from the USA under COVAX facility are expected to reach at 7:20pm at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Also read: 'It's just the beginning': US ambassador on Moderna shipment's arrival
Health Minister Zahid Maleque will remain present at the Airport.
Earlier, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller announced that Bangladesh will receive 3 million doses of Moderna vaccine under the COVAX facility.
Quader urges BNP to stop spreading lies about Covid vaccine
Awami League Secretary General Obaidul Quader has dismissed BNP’s allegation that the government is not doing anything for the marginalised and low-income groups hit hard by coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Quader made the remarks at a food distribution programme among the helpless people organized by Swachchasebak (Volunteer) League at Bangabandhu Avenue this morning.
Read: 'Only program now is to stand by the people': Obaidul Quader
“The Awami League is supporting the affected people ahead of Eid-ul-Azha,” Quader said adding “We urge everyone else to extend their help to the poor.”
Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, accused BNP of spreading lies about Covid vaccines.
He said there is no reason to worry about vaccines. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to ensure vaccine for all and she has remained steadfast in her commitment to the people.
Quader assured the people that Covid vaccine has already started arriving in the country. The necessary jabs will come in time, he said, urging BNP to stop spreading rumours and confusion about its availability.
Read: No irregularity in providing govt incentives to be tolerated: Quader
Saying that the government has announced new packages of assistance ahead of Eid Quader asked his party members to guard against any misappropriation and nepotism. “The assistance must reach the real beneficiaries,” he said.
He warned that the government will not tolerate any irregularities in the distribution of the relief.
Quader once again urged the people to strictly follow the health guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus. There would have no need to enforce lockdown if people wore masks, maintained physical distance and practised hygiene.
Awami League Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Swachchasebak League General Secretary Afzalur Rahman Babu and other central leaders spoke on the occasion while Swachchasebak League President Nirmal Ranjan Guha presided over the programme.
Covid vaccine supply: Gavi signs deals with Sinopharm, Sinovac for COVAX
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has signed advance purchase agreements (APAs) with China's Sinopharm and Sinovac to provide up to 550 million Covid-19 vaccines to the COVAX programme immediately.
The new deals include up to 170 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and up to 380 million shots of the Sinovac vaccine, until mid-2022, Gavi said in a statement Monday.
"The agreements, which come at a time when the Delta variant is posing a rising risk to health systems, will begin to make 110 million doses immediately available to participants of the COVAX Facility, with options for additional doses," the statement read.
READ: Bangladesh hopeful of receiving 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month: FM
"This is yet another example of Gavi's active portfolio management strategy, ensuring the Facility has options in the face of constraints such as supply delays. Thanks to this deal, and because these vaccines have already received WHO Emergency Use Listing, we can move to start supplying doses to countries immediately," said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi.
The Sinopharm APA enables Q3 supply, with Gavi committing to purchase, on behalf of the COVAX Facility, 60 million doses that will be made available from July through October 2021.
Also, Gavi has the option to purchase a further 60 million doses in Q4 2021 and 50 million more doses in the first half of 2022, if necessary.
This equates to a potential total of 170 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine that could be made available to self-financing participants of the Facility as well as participants supported by the Gavi COVAX advance market commitment (AMC).
READ: COVAX: US welcomes shipment of 2.5mn vaccine doses to Bangladesh
The Sinovac APA also enables Q3 supply, with Gavi committing to purchase, on behalf of the COVAX Facility, 50 million doses to be made available from July through September 2021.
Also, Gavi has the option to purchase a further 150 million doses in Q4 2021 and 180 million more doses in the first half of 2022.
In total, up to 380 million potential doses of the Sinovac vaccine could be available to both self-financing participants of the Facility and those supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC.
The COVAX Facility portfolio, administered by Gavi, currently consists of agreements related to 11 vaccines and vaccine candidates – AstraZeneca/Oxford, Clover, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sanofi/GSK, SII-Covishield, SII-Covovax, Sinopharm and Sinovac – providing participants access to a diverse range of vaccines suitable for use in varied contexts and settings and to mitigate against the risk of research and development failures, regulatory delays and supply constraints.
READ: COVAX calls for equal recognition of all approved vaccines
Gavi has recently published an updated Facility global supply forecast, which shows that thanks to several deals with manufacturers and donations from countries with excess supply, COVAX is on track to deliver more than 2 billion doses by early 2022. Of these, 1.8 billion fully donor-funded doses will be available for the 92 lower-income participants eligible for support by the Gavi COVAX AMC.
Khaleda registered online for Covid vaccine: Dr Zahid
Chairperson Khaleda Zia has registered online through a government-approved app called ‘Surokkha’ for receiving coronavirus vaccine.
“Madam [Khaleda] registered for the vaccine on July 8 through the national Covid-19 vaccination registration app Surokkha,” said her medical team member and BNP vice-chairman Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.
He, however, said Khaleda has not yet been informed about the date for receiving the first dose of the vaccine through SMS. “We’ll take steps in this regard after the SMS is sent.”
Also read: Govt violating HR by blocking Khaleda’s treatment abroad: BNP
Zahid said the BNP chairperson mentioned the National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital in the city’s Mohakhali area as the centre for having the vaccine in her registration.
"Begum Khaleda Zia is a senior citizen of the country. She’s a popular political leader and a three-time prime minister. So, we’ll face a problem in taking her to a hospital as huge crowds may gather wherever she’ll go. In that case, I think, the authorities concerned should consider whether she can be vaccinated at her home,” he said.
Replying to a question, the physician said there is no improvement in her heart, liver and kidney complications.
Also read: Govt trying to ‘obstruct’ Khaleda's treatment abroad: BNP
Professor Zahid said the medical board formed earlier at Evercare Hospital has been providing her treatment at home.
They also assess her health condition regularly and different medical test reports, he added.
Earlier on April 11, the 76-year-old BNP chief tested positive for Covid-19 and she was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27.
On April 28, a 10-member medical board, headed by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder, was formed for the treatment of Khaleda at the Evercare Hospital a day after her admission there.
She tested negative for Covid-19 on May 8, 27 days after she had been infected with the deadly virus.
On June 19, Khaleda Zia got back home from the hospital after 53 days of treatment for Covid infections and other physical complications.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.
Pfizer to seek OK for 3rd vaccine dose; shots still protect
Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.
Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world and now accounts for most new U.S. infections.
Two doses of most vaccines are critical to develop high levels of virus-fighting antibodies against all versions of the coronavirus, not just the delta variant -- and most of the world still is desperate to get those initial protective doses as the pandemic continues to rage.
Also read: AstraZeneca, Pfizer vaccines effective against Delta Covid-19 variants: Study
But antibodies naturally wane over time, so studies also are underway to tell if and when boosters might be needed.
On Thursday, Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier.
In August, Pfizer plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of a third dose, he sai.
Why might that matter for fighting the delta variant? Dolsten pointed to data from Britain and Israel showing the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the delta variant very well.” The assumption, he said, is that when antibodies drop low enough, the delta virus eventually could cause a mild infection before the immune system kicks back in.
But FDA authorization would be just a first step -- it wouldn’t automatically mean Americans get offered boosters, cautioned Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Public health authorities would have to decide if they’re really needed, especially since millions of people have no protection.
Also read: Bangladesh rolls out Pfizer vaccine at 3 Dhaka centers
“The vaccines were designed to keep us out of the hospital” and continue to do so despite the more contagious delta variant, he said. Giving another dose would be “a huge effort while we are at the moment striving to get people the first dose.”
Hours after Pfizer’s announcement, U.S. health officials issued a statement saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need a booster yet.
U.S. health agencies “are engaged in a science-based, rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary,” the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint statement. That work will include data from the drug companies, “but does not rely on those data exclusively,” and any decision on booster shots would happen only when “the science demonstrates that they are needed,” the agencies said.
Currently only about 48% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated — and some parts of the country have far lower immunization rates, places where the delta variant is surging. On Thursday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said that’s leading to “two truths” — highly immunized swaths of America are getting back to normal while hospitalizations are rising in other places.
“This rapid rise is troubling,” she said: A few weeks ago the delta variant accounted for just over a quarter of new U.S. cases, but it now accounts for just over 50% — and in some places, such as parts of the Midwest, as much as 80%.
Also read: European regulators OK Pfizer vaccine for children 12-15
Also Thursday, researchers from France’s Pasteur Institute reported new evidence that full vaccination is critical.
In laboratory tests, blood from several dozen people given their first dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines “barely inhibited” the delta variant, the team reported in the journal Nature. But weeks after getting their second dose, nearly all had what researchers deemed an immune boost strong enough to neutralize the delta variant — even if it was a little less potent than against earlier versions of the virus.
The French researchers also tested unvaccinated people who had survived a bout of the coronavirus, and found their antibodies were four-fold less potent against the new mutant. But a single vaccine dose dramatically boosted their antibody levels — sparking cross-protection against the delta variant and two other mutants, the study found. That supports public health recommendations that COVID-19 survivors get vaccinated rather than relying on natural immunity.
The lab experiments add to real-world data that the delta variant’s mutations aren’t evading the vaccines most widely used in Western countries, but underscore that it’s crucial to get more of the world immunized before the virus evolves even more.
Researchers in Britain found two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, for example, are 96% protective against hospitalization with the delta variant and 88% effective against symptomatic infection. That finding was echoed last weekend by Canadian researchers, while a report from Israel suggested protection against mild delta infection may have dipped lower, to 64%.
Whether the fully vaccinated still need to wear masks in places where the delta variant is surging is a growing question. In the U.S., the CDC maintains that fully vaccinated people don’t need to. Even before the delta variant came along, the vaccines weren’t perfect, but the best evidence suggests that if vaccinated people nonetheless get the coronavirus, they’ll have much milder cases.
“Let me emphasize, if you were vaccinated, you have a very high degree of protection,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday.
In the U.S., case rates have been rising for weeks and the rate of hospitalizations has started to tick up, rising 7% from the previous seven-day average, Walensky told reporters Thursday. However, deaths remain down on average, which some experts believe is at least partly due to high vaccination rates in people 65 and older — who are among the most susceptible to severe disease.
S Asian nations should receive vaccines without any strings attached: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said the South Asian nations should receive their shares of Covid vaccines and that too without any strings attached.
“Due to the sudden sweep over of Covid-19 cases in neighboring countries, it is imperative,” he said.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh demands Covid vaccines to be a public good and its technology should be shared and available to all countries to produce it at an affordable price.
Also read: Health minister hopes to get 11 crore vaccine doses by December
The Foreign Minister was addressing a webinar on “Revisiting Contemporary Peace and Security Challenges in the South Asian Region” as the chief guest organized by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS).
He said they have discovered with awe and disappointment that global politics and affluence-power nexus have the overpowering dominance in the global society. “We wonder if the way to procure vaccines would be smooth at all as the bilateral cooperation is not the only deciding factor.”
BIISS Director General Maj Gen Md Emdad Ul Bari delivered the welcome address while BIISS Chairman M Fazlul Karim chaired the session and delivered the introductory remarks.
In the webinar five papers were presented. Professor Imtiaz Ahmed, Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka presented a paper on “Contemporary Geopolitical Competitions in the South Asian Region”.
Also read: Bangladesh to get fair share of vaccines: US Congresswoman
A paper titled “Inter and Intra-State Conflicts in South Asia (Indo-China, Indo-Pak Border Conflicts and Bangladesh-Myanmar Border Issues)” was presented by Professor Rashed Uz Zaman, Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka.
Brig Gen Monirul Islam Akand, Director, Overseas Operations Directorate, Army Headquarters delivered a presentation on “Peacekeeping Challenges in the Present Time: Bangladesh Perspective”.
A paper titled “Recent Trends in Terrorism and Violent Extremism” was presented by Md. Monirul Islam, Additional Inspector General of Police, Bangladesh Police Special Branch) while M Ashique Rahman, Research Fellow, BIISS presented a paper on “Covid-19 and the Geopolitical Changes in South Asia”.
Dr Momen said the pandemic illustrated that political leaders, scientists, and citizens cannot operate in isolation during health crises.
Rather, he said, health emergencies must be viewed as global security crises that require coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders.
To obtain the full health, societal, and economic benefits of vaccines, programs must be coordinated, inclusive, and equitable. Stronger regional and international cooperation is necessary in the coming days for mitigating the impact of the pandemic and for the rebuilding phase, Dr Momen said.
Countries like Bangladesh need support for vaccine production: FM
Countries like Bangladesh that have the capability of producing vaccines should be allowed and supported in producing those, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said.
He made the proposal while delivering his speech at the Asia Pacific high-level conference on Belt and Road Cooperation
on “Promoting Cooperation on Combating the Pandemic for Sustainable Recovery” held virtually on Wednesday night.
Wang Yi, State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China, chaired the meeting.
Also read: Covid vaccine apparently emerged as another tool of exploitation: FM
Under the robust leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Dr Momen said, Bangladesh achieved success in managing the first wave of cornonavirus.
"However, we are facing difficulty in the second wave due to shortage of vaccines," he said.
Despite all good intentions, their actions will go in vain if the availability, access, and distribution of necessary finance are not in place for recovery from this crisis, Dr Momen said.
"Given the scale of threat posed by COVID19, we need a globally harmonised structure of financial infrastructure," he said.
In his five-point proposal, Dr Momen sought rapid information sharing nationally and globally through digital means e.g. live data, in a time-sensitive manner; taking globally united and coordinated efforts to combat against the common enemy; stronger and concerted advocacy with the vaccine producing states to strengthen COVAX by WHO, while ensuring ‘free to choose’; and to ensure that no one is left behind, to declare the Covid-19 vaccines a global public good, and to implement its distribution through strong international cooperation.
Also read: Serum may resume vaccine export in July/August
Although the Covid-19 pandemic has not spared any country from its devastating impacts, the least developed and developing countries are the most affected, he said.
"This is happening while the same groups of countries are already grappling with the adverse ramifications of climate change."
The Foreign Minister said timely sharing of transparent and correct information at the national, regional and global level is of the essence in abating the impacts of Covid-19 crisis.
This calls for fortification of digital infrastructure, both intra and inter-nations, for smooth transmission of critical data on issues inter-alia country experience, management, and best proven interventions, he said.
Such data sharing would help in augmenting country and region-specific information tools for better policy devising, Dr Momen said.
He said vaccines remain the centrepiece in the effective fight against the pandemic. "Bangladesh believes that vaccines should be declared as a global public good."
He said it is encouraging to see countries like China playing important roles for availability of vaccines.
"The COVAX initiative by WHO is highly laudable. Thus, to realise the objectives of such multilateral efforts, we need transitioning to non-linear, big data driven, and prioritised supply chain systems to ensure availability, access, and affordability of vaccines to build back better and stronger socio-economically," he said.
Dr Momen said infrastructure will play a critical role in this regard. "Bangladesh is ready and willing to work with the BRI partners to develop sustainable infrastructures for the benefit of the peoples in Asia-Pacific."
Also read: Vaccine production in Bangladesh: Experts 'vehemently against private sector’s engagement'
"At the same time, through our Chairmanship of the 48-member Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and V20, we are going the extra mile in ensuring a climate resilient recovery from this pandemic not only for ourselves but also for the whole membership CVF," he said.
Global Covid-19 cases top 178 million
Over 178 million people have been found infected with Covid-19 as many countries are still grappling with a spike in cases and deaths across the world.
The total caseload and deaths from the virus stand at 178, 123, 144 and 3,857,806, respectively as of Sunday morning, as per the latest data released by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 2,566,401, 042 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, according to the university data.
Read:Covid situation in Bangladesh going from bad to worse; 67 more die
The US has logged 33,537, 807 cases and 601,748 deaths to date. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
In Brazil, the death toll from the virus has surpassed half a million after recording 2,301 more deaths from the fatal disease in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Saturday.
With the national death toll reaching 500,800, Brazil has become the second country in the world to record more than half a million pandemic deaths, after the United States.
The country’s total caseload reached 17,883,750 as the health authorities has logged 82,288 new cases during this period.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 29,823,546 on Saturday, with 60,753 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry.
Read: A battle for breath in Khulna as Covid cases surge
Besides, 1,647 more patients died during the period, taking the death toll to 385,137.
Situation in Bangladesh
Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed the lives of 67 people in 24 hours until Saturday morning, the highest daily deaths in 48 days.
The country last recorded 69 deaths on May 2 this year.
Meanwhile, 3,057 new infections were detected after testing 16,964 samples, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHs).
With these, the country's death toll rose to 13,466 while the caseload to 848,027.
Bangladesh rolls out Sinopharm vaccine
Bangladesh on Saturday started administering Sinopharm vaccine doses across the country, aiming to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read: Over one-third people uninformed about Covid-19 vaccine registration: Study
The vaccination started in the capital and elsewhere of the country with 11 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine gifted by China, said the DGHS.
The vaccine doses are being administered at four hospitals in Dhaka district -- Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, and Mughda Medical College and Hospital.
Second consignment of Sinopharm vaccine arrives
The second consignment of Sinopharm vaccine, amounting to some 600,000 doses, arrived here on Sunday afternoon as a gift from the Chinese government.
Two C-130J transport aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force brought the consignment with the vaccine doses and some syringes to Bangladesh.
The aircraft with 26 crew of BAF and one representative from the Armed Forces Dvision (AFD) had left Dhaka airport on Saturday to transport the Coronavirus vaccine from China.
Just nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses of gifted vaccine in Bangladesh, China announced the provision of the second batch of gift to Bangladesh.
According to clinical statistics provided by Sinopharm and the evaluation of the World Health Organization (WHO), the efficacy rate of the vaccine is estimated to reach 79%, including all age groups.
This fully reflects the great importance China attaches to the friendly relations between the two countries, says China.
Covid pandemic: Situation in Bangladesh worsening, 47 more die
Amid the growing concern over the rapidly increasing cases and the higher transmissibility of Delta variant, Bangladesh registered 2,436 new Covid cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
The deadly virus also claimed 47 more lives during the period, pushing up the fatalities to 13,118, said a handout released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fatality rate rose to 1.59% on Saturday from Friday’s 1.58% and it remained unchanged, said the DGHS handout.
READ: 13 more lives lost to Covid-19 at RMCH
The caseload reached 8,26,922 with the logging of the new cases.
The positivity rate declined to 12.99 percent on Sunday from Saturday’s 14.12 percent.
Of the deceased, Dhaka division recorded the highest 15 deaths.
So far, the country has completed testing of 61,75,112 samples, including 18,750 in the last 24 hours.
Of the deceased, all but one were 30 years of age. Of them, 29 were over 60-plus age group.
READ: India reports 80,834 new COVID-19 cases
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
Some 42,05,167 people got the second dose of this vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one.
Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162.
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Vaccine procurement update
Bangladesh will soon receive 10 lakh and 800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine soon under COVAX facility, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US conveyed the message of this development to the Foreign Minister.
Bangladesh, earlier sought 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the US for addressing Bangladesh's immediate needs but the US is yet to reply on that particular request.
China will deliver the second consignment of vaccine doses for Bangladesh as a gift of its government by June 13.
READ: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate hits 14.12%, highest in 50 days
Dr Momen said Bangladesh will send two special flights to bring 6 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses and other medical supplies from China.
Just nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses of gifted vaccine in Bangladesh, China announced the provision of the second batch of gift doses to Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, seven million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield reached Bangladesh and India.