Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam on Thursday said that the services of DNCC will not be available from March 1 if there is no certificate of Covid-19 vaccine. He said this while inaugurating the mass vaccination program on Thursday morning. Atiqul also directed the officials to keep the office open on Friday for the mass vaccination drive. "We must  get vaccinated to protect ourselves from coronavirus,” he added.  

The overall number of Covid cases has crossed 247 million amid the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 247,447,923 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,011,786 on Wednesday morning. The US has recorded 46,140,509 cases to date and more than 748,173 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data. Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 21,814,693 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 607,922. India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,296,237 on Tuesday, as 10,423 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data. Read: US gives final clearance to COVID-19 shots for kids 5 to 11 Besides, 443 new deaths were reported during the period, taking the country's total death toll to 458,880. Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit another daily record on Tuesday, four days since a nationwide order for many Russians to stay off work took effect, reports AP. Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 39,008 new confirmed cases and 1,178 Covid-19 deaths. The task force has reported record daily infections or deaths almost every day over the last month. To reduce the spread of Covid, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a nationwide non-working period from October 30-November 7. Situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh logged three more Covid-linked deaths and another 229 cases of infections in 24 hours till Tuesday morning. The country reported two deaths caused by the deadly virus, the lowest this year, and another 214 cases on Monday. The daily case positivity rate increased to 1.14 percent on Tuesday from Monday’s 1.08 percent. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 percent. Read:COVID-19′s global death toll tops 5 million in under 2 years The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,048 samples, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).  All the three deceased were women. With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,873 while the caseload climbed to 1,569,982, according to DGHS. Also, the recovery rate increased to 97.70 percent, with the recovery of 211 more patients during the period. On the 43th epidemiological week of the pandemic from October 25 to 31, 45 Covid-related deaths were reported in the country. Thirty-nine of them did not receive any Covid vaccine, while six were vaccinated. Of them, 23 had comorbidities. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient. On March 18, 2020, Bangladesh logged its first Covid-related death. Vaccination drive in Bangladesh So far, 2,98,97,953 people have been fully vaccinated in the country, while 4,28,14,447 received the first dose as of Tuesday, according to DGHS. Meanwhile, the campaign to vaccinate school students in the age group of 12-17 against Covid began in Dhaka on Monday.

Bangladesh logged three more Covid-linked deaths and another 229 cases of infections in 24 hours till Tuesday morning. The country reported two deaths caused by the deadly virus, the lowest this year, and another 214 cases on Monday. The daily-case positivity rate increased to 1.14 per cent from Monday’s 1.08 per cent. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent. Read:Indonesia first to greenlight Novavax COVID-19 vaccine The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,048 samples, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Besides, today’s all three deceased were women. With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,873 while the caseload climbed to 1,569,982, according to the DGHS. Also, the recovery rate increased to 97.70 per cent with the recovery of 211 more patients during the period. On the 43th epidemiological week of pandemic from October 25 to 31, 45 covid-related deaths were reported in the country. Thirty-nine of them did not receive any Covid vaccine while six were vaccinated. Of them, 23 had comorbidities which have declined to 12.5% from the last epidemiological week. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient. On March 18, 2020, Bangladesh logged its first Covid-19 related death. Vaccination drive in Bangladesh So far, 2,95,64,961 people have been fully vaccinated in the country while 4,24,63,259 received the first dose as of Monday, according to the DGHS. Read: Covid-linked deaths in Bangladesh dip to 2 Meanwhile, the campaign to vaccinate the school students of the 12-17 age group against Covid-19 began in Dhaka on Monday. The vaccination campaign will be conducted at eight centres in the capital although it was scheduled to begin at 12 centres in the city. Other centres did not get approval due to lack of adequate facilities.

Dhaka University, the country’s oldest university, will launch its vaccination campaign on Monday at its medical centre, aiming to vaccinate its teachers, students and staff. The university has already turned its Martyred Intellectual Dr Muhammad Murtaza Medical Centre into a temporary vaccination centre.  Officials said the campaign will be inaugurated at 9:30am and run till October 17 with Sinopharm vaccine jabs. The vaccine seekers must bring their national identity cards (NIDs) or DU IDs to complete the on-the-spot registration. The drive for the second dose was scheduled to begin on November 1. Those who have already registered to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at centres under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), such as Dhaka Medical College Hospital, BSMMU, and Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, may take the vaccine at the DU if they are yet to be vaccinated with any of the doses. Read: Hasina’s birthday celebrated amid mass vaccination campaign

The global Covid-19 caseload has surpassed 221 million as the vaccination rollout has failed to keep pace. According to US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 221,051,151 and the death toll to 4,574,419 on Tuesday morning. So far, 5,489,941,974 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe. Read: Bangladesh’s international airports to have PCR booths for Covid tests India administered more Covid-19 vaccine doses in August than all the G7 nations combined, the government said on Monday, reports NDTV. The total Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country so far has crossed 68.46 crore. Canada administered three million doses and Japan 40 million doses in the two lowest and highest range, respectively, among G7 nations, according to data tweeted by MyGovIndia. The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 40,018,268 cases. Besides, 649,319 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data. Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India. The country has recorded 20,899,933 cases with 583,810 fatalities so far, according to the health ministry. India's Covid-19 tally surpassed the 33-million mark, rising to 33,027,621 on Monday, as 38,948 new cases were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, the federal health ministry's latest data showed. Besides, as many as 219 deaths were registered due to the pandemic since Sunday morning, taking the total death toll to 440,752. Read: 2nd doses to be administered under mass vaccination on 3 days in cities, 1 day outside cities: PMO Situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh logged 65 Covid-19 deaths and 2,710 cases in 24 hours till Monday morning, showing a slight fall in fatality and uptrend in cases from a day before. The country reported 70 Covid-related deaths and 2,430 cases on Sunday. The daily case positivity rate also increased slightly to 9.82% from Sunday's 9.66%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The fresh numbers pushed the country’s total fatalities to 26,628 while the cases reached 15,17,166, the DGHS said. The new cases were detected after testing 27,595 samples during the 24-hour period. Besides, the recovery rate rose to 95.91%, while the case fatality also increased to 1.76 per cent compared to the corresponding period. Read:Those aged 12-17 to be vaccinated after WHO’s approval: Minister The country last saw 67 Coronavirus-related deaths on June 17 and the upswing in the fatalities reached its peak on August 5 and 10 when 264 deaths were recorded. However, the situation was much more catastrophic than June in the latter part of August as the country experienced a surge of Covid-related caseloads and deaths during that time. Between May and June this year, there was a 273% rise in monthly caseloads and 162% in fatalities. In July, there was a 150% increase in caseloads and a 170% rise in deaths compared to the previous month, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Those who are aged between 12 and 17 will be brought under the coverage of vaccination against Covid-19 once it is approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday. “We’ve applied to WHO seeking its approval in this regard. The approval of the National Technical Advisory Committee is also needed. Once approved, we’ll start vaccinating those who are aged 12-17,” said the minister while talking to reporters after a meeting at the secretariat. Read: No decision yet on vaccinating the under-18: DGHS

The government is yet to take any decision on bringing people below 18 years under Covid-19 vaccination, said the Directorate General of Health Services on Sunday. “So far we know, no decision has been taken yet. But the government is thinking about it. Measures will be taken as per the decision of the National Advisory Committee,” said Dr Shamsul Haq, director of DGHS Vaccination Programme.   He said some university students were vaccinated as per the list of the University Grants Commission. Those who don’t have NID cards and are yet to get vaccinated may get their jabs showing birth certificates, he added. Also read: PM: Govt has arranged to bring one crore Covid vaccine doses a month However, on Saturday Health Minister Zahid Maleque said students below 18 can be vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna jabs following the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) directives as per the availability of vaccine doses. About 80% teachers and students involved in medical treatment have been brought under vaccination campaigns, the minister added. Besides, pregnant and lactating women can get jabs without SMS from nearby vaccination centres at any convenient time after registration, Dr Shamsul Haq said on Sunday. "We have changed the previous rules for vaccinating pregnant and lactating women and given new instructions," he added. Moreover, Dr Shamsul said pregnant and lactating women must take a doctor's advice card before getting the jab. They can go to the vaccination centres and get a jab by signing a letter of consent.

The Chandpur Civil Surgeon's Office has temporarily suspended the Covid vaccination drive at District Sadar Hospital due to an acute shortage of jabs. There is a vaccine crisis in the entire district as the number of registrations is more than the available stock, the chief medical officers of various upazila health complexes told UNB. Read: Dhaka receives 56 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses People from different parts of Chandpur Sadar who came to the vaccination centre of the state-run hospital Tuesday, returned disappointed after a long wait. Among them were 70-year-old Afia Khatun, who came from the Laxmipur area of Sadar, Hasina Begum, 45, of the Mahamaya area of Sadar upazila, and Biplob Saha of Puran Bazar and his wife. Besides, the stock of vaccines has run out in Kachua, Faridganj, Hajiganj, Matlab South and Matlab North. And so the registration for jabs has been suspended at the upazila health complexes in these areas. Dr Belayet Hossain of Haimchar Upazila Health Complex, said that their stock of vaccines is also running out. The situation is the same in Shahrashti. He told UNB that due to the shortage of jabs, vaccination has been halted in the entire district. "Of course, it is temporary," the doctor added. Read:EPI staff suspended for pushing Covid vaccine at home Civil Surgeon Dr M Sakhawatullah said there is more registration for vaccines than the available stock of the Covid jabs, "and hence the shortage". "Hopefully we'll receive more vaccine doses by Saturday. Then the inoculation of the first and second doses will start again."

The global Covid-19 caseload has surpassed 216 million with the world still struggling to contain the pandemic, but there may be better news for one of the worst-hit countries from the virus in the days ahead.Covid-19 in India may be entering a stage of ‘endemicity’ where there is low or moderate level of transmission going on, Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation Dr Soumya Swaminathan said over the weekend.“We may be entering some kind of stage of endemicity where there is low level transmission or moderate level transmission going on but we are not seeing the kinds of exponential growth and peaks that we saw a few months ago," Dr Swaminathan said. Read:How Long Will Your COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccination Protection Last?According to Dr Swaminathan, the endemic stage is when a population "learns to live with a virus". It’s very different from the epidemic stage when a virus overwhelms a population.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that endemic “refers to the constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area."In the endemic stage, disease spread and rates of infection are said to be fairly predictable.India's COVID-19 tally rose to 32,695,030 (32.7 million) on Sunday, as 45,083 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry's latest data.Besides, 460 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 437,830 - the world's third-highest after the USA and Brazil.According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total caseload and fatalities globally stand at 216,364,257 (over 216 million) and 4,500,596 (over 4.5 million) respectively, as of Monday morning. Read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: '76% leprosy-affected people face severe financial crisis'So far, 5,191,645,799 (almost 5.2 billion) vaccine doses have been administered across the globe. That number includes 3.1 billion, or 40 percent of the world population that has received at least one dose, and 2.1 billion, or 26.8 percent of the world population now fully vaccinated.The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 38,796,236 cases while 637,525 people have lost their lives to Covid to date, according to JHU.Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.The country has recorded 20,741,815 cases with 579,308 fatalities so far, according to the health ministry.Situation in BangladeshWith millions of people still waiting to receive their first doses of coronavirus vaccines, the deadly virus claimed 89 more lives in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Sunday morning and infected another 3,948 people.The country's single-day death toll fell below 100 for the first time in more than two months with 80 deaths reported on Saturday. Read: Covid fatalities shrink below 100 after 2 monthsSince the start of the Covid pandemic in March last year, Bangladesh recorded 14,93,537 infections and 26,015 deaths, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).The fresh cases were reported after testing 27,921 samples raising the daily case positivity rate to 14.14% from Saturday’s 13.67%.Meanwhile, the recovery rate rose to 94.79 per cent, while the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.74% during the period.

The global Covid-19 caseload is fast nearing 216 million as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to devastate several countries. The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 215,926,290 and 4,493, 941 respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). So far, 5,167,787,650 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe. Read: How Long Will Your COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccination Protection Last? The US has logged 38,756,333 cases and 637,241 deaths to date, according to the JHU data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world. Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India. The country has recorded 20,728,605 cases with 579,010 fatalities so far, according to the health ministry. The third worst-hit country, India's Covid-19 tally rose to 32,649, 947 on Saturday while the death toll from the virus mounted to 437,370. Situation in Bangladesh The single-day Covid death toll in Bangladesh fell below 100 for the first time in more than two months with 80 more people perishing in the last 24 hours till Saturday morning. Read: Covid fatalities shrink below 100 after 2 months During the same period 3,436 people tested positive for the deadly virus, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. The country reported 77 Covid fatalities on June 26 and the highest 264  on August 5 and 10. The highest number of infections was logged at 16,230 infections on July 28. Since the start of the Covid pandemic in March last year, Bangladesh has recorded 14,89,589 infections and 25,926 deaths, according to the DGHS.