AstraZeneca vaccine
Bangladesh to get 781,440 AstraZeneca doses from Japan Saturday
Bangladesh will receive 781,440 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan Saturday.
A flight of All Nippon Airways, carrying the vaccine shots, left Japan's Narita International Airport Friday.
The vaccine doses are scheduled to arrive at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Saturday on a flight of Cathay Pacific.
Read: Bangladesh to resume administering AstraZeneca jabs Monday
With this shipment, the total amount of dispatched vaccines from Japan as of today stands at over 2.4 million.
This delivery is a part of Japan's commitment to supplying over 3 million doses of vaccine under the WHO-COVAX mechanism.
Read: Over 1.6 million AstraZeneca doses received from Japan
Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed was present at the airport during vaccine dispatch.
Counsellor (Labour) Md Zakir Hossain and First Secretary (Political) Arif Mohammad were also present at that time.
Over 1.6 million AstraZeneca doses received from Japan
Bangladesh has so far received 1,643,300 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan with the arrival of the third consignment of 616,780 doses under the COVAX facility.
“Japan will provide 3 million (doses of AstraZeneca) in total to Bangladesh and so far dispatched 1,643,300 doses,” said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito after handing over the third consignment to Bangladesh.
The Ambassador said he is pleased that with the gift from the Japanese people, AstraZeneca’s second dose administering resumed on Monday.
Read: Third consignment of AstraZeneca jabs from Japan to reach Dhaka Tuesday
The Japanese government is providing the vaccine doses through the COVAX Facility to meet the urgent needs of the Bangladeshi people who have been long waiting for the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Vaccination with Astrazeneca jabs in Bangladesh to resume within days
Bangladesh will resume vaccination with Astrazeneca shots within the next few days, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
“We’ll resume vaccination with Astrazeneca jabs within the next 2-1 days. Those who failed to take the second dose after getting the first one will be able to get it now,” he said.
The minister said this while speaking to reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after receiving the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan.
He said the government currently has a stock of more than 10 lakh doses of Astrazeneca vaccine.
Read: Covid kills 218 more in Bangladesh as its catastrophe continues
“We’ll get 6 lakh doses more of the vaccine on Aug 3,” Zahid added.
Covid kills 218 more in Bangladesh as its catastrophe continues
As health authorities scramble to prevent the spread of the Delta variant, Bangladesh added 218 fatalities to its national tally on Saturday.
The country registered over 200 single-day fatalities for the last six days as it is fighting a horrific wave of the pandemic that overwhelmed its healthcare systems.
The country recorded 9,369 new cases on Saturday after testing 30,980 samples, and reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatality number – 258 – on July 27 and 16,230 infections the next day, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
There have been 1,249,484 positive cases and 20,685 coronavirus-related deaths here since the pandemic began, the DGHS said.
Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate took a negligible fall to 30.24% from Friday’s 30.77 %, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
However, the recovery rate rose to 86.29% from the previous day’s 85.81 % and the case fatality rate to 1.66% from last day’s 1.65 %.
Read: No decision yet on lockdown extension: Farhad
As many as 14,017 patients recovered from the fatal disease in the 24-hour period.
Among the latest deaths, the highest 67 deaths were recorded in Dhaka division followed by 55 in Chattogram, 27 in Khulna, 22 in Rajshahi, 16 in Rangpur, 12 in Mymensingh, 10 in Barishal, and nine in Sylhet divisions.
Of them, 134 were men and 84 women. Among them, one was between 0-10 years of age, six between 21-30, 17 between 31-40, 37 between 41-50, 37 between 51-60, 66 between 61-70, 33 between 71-80, 15 between 81-90, four between 91-100 and two over 100 years old.
Astrazeneca’s fresh rollout
On a positive note, Bangladesh will resume vaccination with Astrazeneca shots within the next few days, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque.
“We’ll resume vaccination with Astrazeneca jabs within the next 2-1 days. Those who failed to take the second dose after getting the first one will be able to get it now,” he said.
He said the government has an overall stock of 2 crore 60 lakh vaccine doses now.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday received the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan under the COVAX facility.
Read: Vaccination with Astrazeneca jabs in Bangladesh to resume within days
The second consignment contains 7,81,320 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
A cargo flight of Cathay Pacific that carried the vaccine doses from Japan landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:15 pm.
The third consignment that will contain 6,16,780 doses of the vaccine is scheduled to arrive here on August 3.
Bangladesh receives around 8 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday received the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan under the COVAX facility.
The second consignment contains 7,81,320 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
A cargo flight of Cathay Pacific that carried the vaccine doses from Japan landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:15 pm.
Senior Secretary to the Health Service Division Lokman Hossain Miah and Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh Ito Naoki were also present there.
"We're thankful to Japan. They've proved that they're real friend of all Bangladeshis," said Dr Momen after receiving the vaccine consignment.
He said Japan, may be in the future, would be providing more and more support to deal with the situation.
Dr Momen said Covid-19 is a big global problem and no country can resolve it alone.
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said vaccine should be a public good and ownership of its technology should be shared by all the countries.
Also read: Bangladesh receives 30 lakh Sinopharm vaccine jabs
The third consignment that will contain 6,16,780 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine is scheduled to arrive here on August 3.
The vaccine support is expected to contribute to the Bangladesh government's efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to save people’s lives in Bangladesh, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka.
Japan hoped that the vaccination of AstraZeneca will resume soon and reiterates that it will stand by Bangladesh in the fight against COVID-19 and will work together to suppress COVID-19 as soon as possible.
Bangladesh to receive 2nd consignment of Astrazeneca doses from Japan Saturday
Bangladesh will receive the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan under the COVAX facility on Saturday.
The consignment, being carried by All Nippon Airways (ANA), contains 7,81,320 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, raising the total jabs of the vaccine in Bangladesh to one million.
The flight left Narita Airport Terminal 1 at 22:40 hrs (JST). The delivery is part of Japan's announced commitment of supplying over 3.0 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in phases to Bangladesh under WHO-COVAX mechanism.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen received the first consignment of 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan on July 24.
Read: Bangladesh receives 30 lakh Sinopharm vaccine jabs
Bangladesh to resume vaccination with Astrazeneca jabs soon
Bangladesh will resume vaccination with Astrazeneca jabs soon, said DGHS spokesperson Prof Dr Nazmul Islam on Wednesday.
“We had to stop giving Astrazeneca vaccine to people halfway through due to its short supply. But we’re hopeful of resuming its rollout soon as we’ve received a supply from Japan,” he said during the regular briefing of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
"We’ll get more AstraZeneca supplies within a few days. The wait of those who’re worried about the second dose will hopefully end soon,” he added.
Read: Vaccination at union level to start on Aug 7: Home Minster
Responding to a question on why the vaccination drive with Astrazeneca has not resumed yet, the spokesperson said,” We’re waiting for the arrival of further supplies.”
Bangladesh received the first consignment of 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan on July 24.
Read: Age limit to be lowered to 18 for Covid vaccination: Health DG
The vaccine doses came under the COVAX facility.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito earlier said Japan would provide a total of 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh.
Immunized but banned: EU says not all COVID vaccines equal
After Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor and his wife received two doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in Nigeria, they assumed they would be free to travel this summer to a European destination of their choice. They were wrong.
The couple — and millions of other people who have been vaccinated through a U.N.-backed effort — could find themselves barred from entering many European and other countries because those nations don’t recognize the Indian-made version of the vaccine for travel.
Although AstraZeneca vaccine produced in Europe has been authorized by the continent’s drug regulatory agency, the same shot manufactured in India hasn’t been given the green light.
EU regulators said AstraZeneca hasn’t completed the necessary paperwork on the Indian factory, including details on its production practices and quality control standards.
Read:FDA adds warning about rare reaction to J&J COVID-19 vaccine
But some experts describe the EU move as discriminatory and unscientific, pointing out that the World Health Organization has inspected and approved the factory. Health officials say the situation won’t only complicate travel and frustrate fragile economies but also undermine vaccine confidence by appearing to label some shots substandard.
As vaccination coverage rises across Europe and other rich countries, authorities anxious to salvage the summer tourism season are increasingly relaxing coronavirus border restrictions.
Earlier this month, the European Union introduced its digital COVID-19 certificate, which allows EU residents to move freely in the 27-nation bloc as long as they have been vaccinated with one of the four shots authorized by the European Medicines Agency, have a fresh negative test, or have proof they recently recovered from the virus.
While the U.S. and Britain remain largely closed to outside visitors, the EU certificate is seen as a potential model for travel in the COVID-19 era and a way to boost economies.
The officially EU-endorsed vaccines also include those made by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. They don’t include the AstraZeneca shot made in India or many other vaccines used in developing countries, including those manufactured in China and Russia.
Individual EU countries are free to apply their own rules for travelers from inside and outside the bloc, and their rules vary widely, creating further confusion for tourists. Several EU countries, including Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, allow people to enter if they have had non-EU-endorsed vaccines; several others, including France and Italy, don’t.
For Nsofor, the realization he could be barred was “a rude awakening.” After a tough year of working during the pandemic in Abuja, Nsofor and his wife were looking forward to a European vacation with their two young daughters, perhaps admiring the Eiffel Tower in Paris or touring Salzburg in Austria.
Nsofor noted that the Indian-made vaccine he received had been authorized by WHO for emergency use and had been supplied through COVAX, the U.N.-backed program to provide shots to poor corners of the world. WHO’s approval included a visit to the Serum Institute of India factory to ensure that it had good manufacturing practices and that quality control standards were met.
“We’re grateful to the EU that they funded COVAX, but now they are essentially discriminating against a vaccine that they actively funded and promoted,” Nsofor said. “This will just give room to all kinds of conspiracy theories that the vaccines we’re getting in Africa are not as good as the ones they have for themselves in the West.”
Read: Pfizer to discuss vaccine booster with US officials Monday
Ivo Vlaev, a professor at Britain’s University of Warwick who advises the government on behavioral science during COVID-19, agreed that Western countries’ refusal to recognize vaccines used in poor countries could fuel mistrust.
“People who were already suspicious of vaccines will become even more suspicious,” Vlaev said. “They could also lose trust in public health messages from governments and be less willing to comply with COVID rules.”
Dr. Mesfin Teklu Tessema, director of health for the International Rescue Committee, said countries that have declined to recognize vaccines cleared by WHO are acting against the scientific evidence.
“Vaccines that have met WHO’s threshold should be accepted. Otherwise it looks like there’s an element of racism here,” he said.
WHO urged countries to recognize all of the vaccines it has authorized, including two Chinese-made ones. Countries that decline to do so are “undermining confidence in lifesaving vaccines that have already been shown to be safe and effective, affecting uptake of vaccines and potentially putting billions of people at risk,” the U.N. health agency said in a statement this month.
In June, the Serum Institute of India’s CEO, Adar Poonawalla, tweeted that he was concerned about vaccinated Indians facing problems traveling to the EU and said he was raising the problem at the highest levels with regulators and countries.
Stefan De Keersmaeker, a spokesman for the EU’s executive arm, said last week that regulators were obligated to check the production process at the Indian factory.
“We are not trying to create any doubts about this vaccine,” he said.
AstraZeneca said it only recently submitted the paperwork on the Indian factory to the EU drug regulatory agency. It didn’t say why it didn’t do so earlier, before the agency made its original decision in January.
Read: South Africa ramps up vaccine drive, too late for this surge
Public health experts warned that countries that decline to recognize vaccines backed by WHO are complicating global efforts to safely restart travel.
“You can’t just cut off countries from the rest of the world indefinitely,” said Dr. Raghib Ali of the University of Cambridge. “To exclude some people from certain countries because of the vaccine they’ve received is wholly inconsistent because we know that these approved vaccines are extremely protective.”
Nsofor said he and his wife are still deciding where to take their summer vacation and are leaning toward Singapore or East Africa.
“I didn’t realize there were so many layers to vaccine inequity,” he said.
FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday indicated that Bangladesh will soon receive huge vaccine doses from a number of sources, including the ones that will come under the COVAX facility.
Bangladesh Mission in Geneva has conveyed that Bangladesh will receive 3 million doses of Moderna vaccine under the COVAX facility, Dr Momen said, adding that the shipment is ready.
Read:Covid vaccine supply: Gavi signs deals with Sinopharm, Sinovac for COVAX
Bangladesh has already received 2.5 million Moderna vaccine doses under the COVAX facility, said the Foreign Minister.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh will receive 2.9 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Japan instead of 2.5 million. “This shipment will come under the COVAX facility.”
The Foreign Minister said he will have a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Tashkent on July 15 as China will give 1 million more doses of Sinopharm vaccine as a gift to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has already received 11 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China as a gift.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh will receive 1 million doses of vaccine from the European Union. In August, Bangladesh will receive 6 lakh 20 thousand doses of vaccine under the COVAX facility.
Read: 1.84 lakh doses of Moderna, Sinopharm vaccines reach Chattogram
Bangladesh hopeful of receiving 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladesh is hopeful of receiving more vaccine doses this month from Japan, the European Union (EU) and the USA under COVAX facility apart from a steady flow of that from China.
“We’re in a good position now. I should say we’ve made a line up. I think there’ll be no vaccine crisis, and the vaccination programme will continue uninterruptedly,” he told a small group of reporters at his residence.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is expected to get around 2.5 million doses of vaccine from Japan while 1 million from the EU under the COVAX facility. “These’re likely to be AstraZeneca vaccine doses.”
The Foreign Minister said he talked to the Japanese Foreign Minister recently and Bangladesh mentioned about Japan’s vaccine supply to others.
Dr Momen said Japan will provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh, too but the exact quantity was not mentioned. But a big quantity of vaccine doses is expected to arrive this week or next week under the COVAX facility. “We expect it’ll be around 2.5 million doses.”
Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh recently got 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine doses from the USA under the COVAX facility. “US informed us that there’ll be more.”
He said the government has planned to bring vaccine doses from Sinopharm over the next three months as per the plan, and the first consignment of 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine has already arrived.
Read:Chinese firms working with Bangladeshi partners for vaccine co-production