COVID-19 vaccine Bangladesh
How long does protection from COVID-19 vaccines last?
How long does protection from COVID-19 vaccines last?
Experts don’t know yet because they’re still studying vaccinated people to see when protection might wear off. How well the vaccines work against emerging variants will also determine if, when and how often additional shots might be needed.
“We only have information for as long as the vaccines have been studied,” said Deborah Fuller, a vaccine researcher at the University of Washington. “We have to study the vaccinated population and start to see, at what point do people become vulnerable again to the virus?”
So far, Pfizer’s ongoing trial indicates the company’s two-dose vaccine remains highly effective for at least six months, and likely longer. People who got Moderna’s vaccine also still had notable levels of virus-fighting antibodies six months after the second required shot.
Antibodies also don’t tell the whole story. To fight off intruders like viruses, our immune systems also have another line of defense called B and T cells, some of which can hang around long after antibody levels dwindle. If they encounter the same virus in the future, those battle-tested cells could potentially spring into action more quickly.
Also Read: Will children be able to get COVID-19 vaccines?
Even if they don’t prevent illness entirely, they could help blunt its severity. But exactly what role such “memory” cells might play with the coronavirus -- and for how long -- isn’t yet known.
While the current COVID-19 vaccines will likely last for at least about a year, they probably won’t offer lifelong protection, as with measles shots, said Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, a vaccine expert at the University of Maryland.
“It’s going to be somewhere in the middle of that very wide range,” she said.
Variants are another reason we might need an additional shot.
The current vaccines are designed to work against a particular spike protein on the coronavirus, said Mehul Suthar of the Emory Vaccine Center. If the virus mutates enough over time, vaccines might need to be updated to boost their effectiveness.
So far, the vaccines appear protective against the notable variants that have emerged, though somewhat less so on the one first detected in South Africa.
If it turns out we need another shot, a single dose could extend protection of the current shots or contain vaccination for one or more variants.
The need for follow-up shots will also depend partly on the success of the vaccination push globally, and tamping down transmission of the virus and emerging variants.
Global Covid-19 cases top 142 million
Covid-19 variants seem to be spreading around the world like wildfire, even with mass inoculations underway. The overall number of coronavirus cases has now topped the grim milestone of 142 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The total case count and fatalities stand at 142,642,783 and 3,041,541, respectively, as of Wednesday morning, as per the university data. The US, India and Brazil are the worst-affected countries in terms of confirmed cases, followed by France, Russia and the UK.
Also Read: Covid-19: Global cases near 142 million, deaths top 3 million
The US has registered 31,792,013 cases as of Wednesday morning, while the death toll from the virus has now climbed to 568,460, according to Johns Hopkins statistics.
Neighbouring India, which has been logging more than two lakh new cases daily for the past several days, on Tuesday recorded a whopping 15,321,089 cases and 180,530 fatalities in 24 hours, the country's government said.
In Brazil, the total caseload has reached 14,043,076 while 378,003 people have died from the virus so far. France has recorded 5,401,305 cases, while Russia and the UK have registered 4,665,553 and 4,408,644 infections, respectively, to date.
Situation in Bangladesh
After recording over 100 daily Covid-19 deaths for four consecutive days, Bangladesh registered 91 more fatalities in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, showing a marginal fall in the fatality figures.
Besides, 4,559 people got infected by the deadly virus during the period, said a Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) handout.
On Monday, the country broke all the previous records of Covid-19 deaths, registering 112 fatalities. The latest figure pushed up the death tally to 10,588, with a mortality rate of 1.45 percent.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020, and the first death on March 18 that year. Health authorities have so far confirmed 727,780 cases. Among them, 628,111 people -- 86.31 percent of all patients -- have recovered.
Lockdown
A ‘strict’ lockdown is currently underway across the country, but people still seem to be apathetic towards health guidelines and safety rules. The government has extended the ongoing lockdown by another week from April 22 in an effort to bring the Covid-19 situation under control.
Cause of concern
Concerns about the spread of more contagious and deadlier variants of the virus have been raised by experts. A research suggests that the South African variant has accounted for 81 percent of the positive cases in Dhaka since the third week of March this year.
That is not good news for Bangladesh because the country has managed to procure only the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine so far, which offers as little as 10 percent protection against the South African variant, according to researchers.
Vaccination efforts
Last year, Bangladesh inked an agreement with the Serum Institute of India for acquiring 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A countrywide inoculation drive was launched on February 7. So far, 57,29,147 people have received the first dose and 15,07,287 have got their second jab, according to official figures.
Amid growing calls for speeding up the inoculation programme, Bangladesh's vaccine supplier India has shifted from being a mass vaccine exporter to a major importer, after witnessing a record number of daily cases in the past couple of weeks.
Although Bangladesh is yet to receive its March consignment of five million doses, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said the jabs will arrive as promised by India.
END/UNB/MAS/JM
Bangladesh sees 100+ Covid deaths for 2nd straight day
Bangladesh registered a single-day death of 101 from Covid-19 for the second consecutive day in 24 hours until Saturday, pushing up the total fatalities to 10,283.
The country shattered its previous all records of single-day death count with 101 fatalities on Friday.
With the latest figure, the mortality rate rose to 1.44 percent, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout.
Also Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh's death toll crosses grave milestone.
However, 3,473 new cases were detected during the period as the number of tests declined significantly in the last 5-6 days. Only 16, 185 samples were tested during the period.
The handout said the daily infection rate fell to 21.46 percent from Friday’s 23.36 percent.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
With the new cases, the total caseload reached 715,252 while the total number of recoveries was 608,815, (85.12 percent of all patients) including 5,907 in the last 24 hours.
1,237 lost lives in 17 days
The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Between April 1 and April 17, the country registered 1,237 deaths and 100,484 new cases.
On Thursday, the country recorded 94 deaths, a day after registering the highest number of single-day fatalities (96). The figure was 69 on Tuesday, 83 on Monday, 78 on Sunday and 77 on Saturday.
Also Read: Day 4 of lockdown: Dhaka wears a deserted look
81 pc victims above 50
Of the latest victims, 69 are men and 32 are women. Of them, 99 died at hospitals.
Fifty-eight out of the 101 victims are above the age of 60. So far, 7,635 men and 2,648 women have died from the virus.
In terms of age group, 56.36 percent are aged more than 60 years while 24.62 percent are aged between 51 and 60 years. Together, these two groups account for 80.98 percent of the total fatalities.
Dhaka has recorded 58.15 percent of the fatalities with 67 deaths, followed by Chattogram’s 18 percent fatality rate with 23 deaths.
On Saturday morning, there were 157 ICU beds available in the country.
There are 10,667 general beds for coronavirus patients and 5,423 of them are currently occupied. On the other hand, there are only 823 ICU beds and 666 of them are occupied at the moment.
Lockdown: Many in Dhaka ignore restrictions in open defiance
Although the streets in Dhaka city had taken a deserted look on the first day of the nationwide fresh eight-day lockdown on Wednesday, the movement of people, private vehicles and rickshaws increased on its second day on Thursday.
Shops and shopping malls remained closed as the government has enforced a stricter lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19 cases.
Also Read: Lockdown: 60,000 people register for movement pass
Rickshaws were seen plying roads in different areas, including Dilu Road, Mohakhali, Bijoy Sarani and Manik Mia Avenue as people are hiring the slow-moving three wheelers to reach their destinations in absence of alternative transports.
Police and Rab members were seen monitoring the movement of vehicles and people after setting up check-posts at different parts of the capital.
They were asking people why they got out of home. Those who were failing to show the ‘movement pass’ or any valid reason of going out were being fined.
Asaduzzaman, a traffic Inspector in Mohakhali area, said: “We don’t allow anyone to move without valid any reason. Those who’re failing to show any valid reason are either sued or fined. However, we didn’t put any pressure on anyone on humanitarian grounds.”
A long queue of vehicles was seen on Kuril Biswa Road as police were checking each vehicle.
However, kitchen markets were found violating the government directives as they are not seen running their business in open spaces. Besides, some were seen ignoring health guidelines.
Amid the devastating Covid-19 situation, the government enforced a fresh eight-day lockdown on Tuesday to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The Cabinet division issued a notification in this regard on Monday. The lockdown will remain in force from 6:00 am Wednesday (April 14) till April 21 midnight.
Lockdown instructions
Under the fresh lockdown, all the government, semi-government, autonomous, private offices and financial institutions will remain closed.
All modes of public transports, including those of road, river, railway and air, will remain suspended during the lockdown.
However, the restriction will not be effective in the case of carrying goods, emergency services and production. But industries and factories will remain open on condition of maintaining health protocols.
Also Read: Relaxed lockdown taken as license to ignore social distancing
The offices, staffers and vehicles of the organisations providing emergency services, including law enforcement, agricultural products (fertilizer, seeds, pesticides, machinaris), crops, food laden vehicles, relief distribution, health services, health workers involved in mass inoculation, power, water, gas, fire services, port activities, media (print and electronic media), private security management, telephone, and postal services will remain out of the purview of the restriction.
People’s movement will be restricted and no one will be allowed to go outside except for emergency needs (to purchase medicines, daily essentials, to take medical services and burial/ cremation of dead bodies, taking Covid-19 jabs etc).
Hotels and restaurants can operate with takeaway/online services only from 12 pm to 7 pm and 12 am to 6 am. No one will be allowed to take food sitting in hotels or restaurants.
The government imposed a 'loose' nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 as part of its move to contain the spike in both coronavirus infections and fatalities.
But the government allowed the resumption of public transport in city corporation areas from April 7 as well as reopening shops and shopping malls for five days from April 9 in the face of protests against the lockdown.
The lockdown remained in force until April 13 (Tuesday).
Global Covid-19 cases top 138 million
The overall number of global Covid cases has now surged past 138 million, an alarming figure that paints a bleak picture of the pandemic.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 138,056,297 while the death tally from the virus reached 2,971,539 Thursday morning.
The US has recorded 31,420,888 cases to date and more than 564,396 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
Also Read: Global Covid-19 case surpassed 137 million
Brazil, which has been experiencing new wave of cases since January, registered 73,513 fresh cases, bringing the national tally to 13,673,507.
Brazil's Covid-19 death toll has risen to 361,884, with 3,459 new deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday.
Besides, India’s total cases is approaching 14 million, forcing the authorities concerned to enforce restrictions in many states from Wednesday.
India has so far registered 13,873,825 cases and 172,085 deaths from the virus, according to the government.
Also Read: Covid-19: Global cases close to 136 million
Situation in Bangladesh
With the shattering situation of Covid-19 cases, Bangladesh reported 96 deaths in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
The latest fatalities have pushed up the local tally to 9,987 since the first death was reported on March 18 last year, a handout from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said. The mortality rate stood at 1.42 percent.
Bangladesh saw a spike in the number of daily cases in recent days that was followed by record single-day death counts.
On Wednesday, the country registered its highest number of deaths from the virus for the fourth time in five days. The figure was 69 on Tuesday, 83 on Monday, 78 on Sunday and 77 on Saturday.
Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
The government has enforced a fresh strict lockdown for eight days from Wednesday in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Under the fresh lockdown all government, semi-government, autonomous, private offices and financial institutions will remain closed but the officers and employees will have to stay in their respective work stations.
The Cabinet division issued a notification in this regard on Monday. The lockdown will remain in force from 6 am Wednesday (April 14) till April 21 midnight.
Covid-19 Vaccine
The government launched a vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.
Experts are calling for ramping up the drive and urging people to follow the health guidelines to keep themselves and others around them safe.
On April 8, Bangladesh began its second phase of inoculation amid uncertainty over vaccine availability.
South Asian Govts must ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines: AI
Governments in South Asia must ensure that vulnerable groups are not excluded from access to COVID-19 vaccines, said Amnesty International.
It called on the international community to enable the production of vaccines at the national-level to address the severe shortfall in supply across the region.
Also Read: 'Don't worry, come forward': Asian nations get 1st shots
“As vaccine campaigns have been rolled out, marginalized groups across South Asia have been effectively locked out by practical barriers. South Asia’s governments must ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines for everyone irrespective of caste, socio-economic or other status, race, or nationality,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.
Mishra said the lack of access to vaccine supply in most countries across the region is a real and pressing concern that needs to be urgently addressed.
"However, this must not provide cover to these countries to unduly limit access to vaccines, for example, by not reaching out to vulnerable groups to tell them how they can get vaccinated. Who you are and where you live should not determine access to the vaccine.”
As vaccination programmes have commenced across South Asia, groups including slum dwellers, Dalits, ethnic minorities, workers including labourers, daily wage earners, sanitation workers, garment workers and tea plantation workers, people in rural areas, prisoners, and internally displaced people have so far been denied access due to a lack of awareness and limited access to technology in most places.
Also Read: COVID-19 : Bangladesh, China, 3 S Asian countries to start vaccination
Meanwhile, others including refugees and migrants have been excluded entirely from government vaccine campaigns in many countries for now.
With vaccines in short supply, most countries in South Asia have not inoculated more than six percent of their population with even a first dose, with efforts so far reaching middle and higher-income groups.
Amnesty International is calling on governments across the world to waive provisions of the global treaty governing rights and patents on properties including medicines.
Barriers to access
Underprivileged communities across South Asia do not have access to smart phones and other mobile devices, which are required in most cases to register online for vaccines and where most public health information is disseminated.
In Pakistan, the registration process excludes certain groups by design – requiring National Identity Numbers that are unavailable to refugees or migrants.
In early April, authorities approved of foreign nationals over the age of 60 and health workers of foreign origin to receive the jab but there is a lack of clarity on the process of registration for them.
With vaccine registration being done via text message or online, prisoners are also being effectively excluded without access to the internet or phones.
Although the provincial government of Sindh has announced that all prisoners over the age of 50 will be vaccinated, it is not clear if other provinces will follow suit.
Due to a lack of access to government plans and information sharing mechanisms on vaccine roll-out, a misperception among rural people that COVID-19 is a concern only for urban and city dwellers persists in countries such as Bangladesh.
Amnesty International is calling on national authorities to put measures in place, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, to raise awareness among rural people about vaccine campaigns and the danger posed by COVID-19.
In Sri Lanka, limited communication around dates, venues and eligibility for vaccines is a barrier for people to access vaccinations.
There is no information available about the plan for COVID-19 vaccines and immunizing the broader population in some countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, vaccination plans that have been developed by countries like Bangladesh for a holistic coverage of the population are not reflected in their implementation such as efforts to inoculate cleaning workers, unskilled wage earners and people in lower income groups, said the AI
Governments must ensure that information around vaccine plans are communicated effectively to communities in languages and formats they understand to ensure equitable access.
Limited vaccine supplies
With vaccine manufacturing countries prioritizing their own populations, countries across South Asia have been scrambling to place orders to meet national demands.
The situation has left hundreds of millions across the region unable to access vaccines for the foreseeable future, including groups such as Bangladesh’s one million Rohingya refugees and Afghanistan’s four million internally displaced.
In Pakistan, limited supplies have led to many health workers reporting difficulties securing their second vaccine jab, leaving them dangerously exposed as the country undergoes its third and most deadly wave.
Amnesty International is calling on governments to fulfil their human rights obligations and actively support a proposal to waive certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement, a global treaty governing intellectual property rights, which often restricts where, when and how medicines are produced.
“International cooperation is key to contain the spread of the virus and make the vaccine universally available as quickly as possible. South Asian countries with the capacity to produce the vaccine at affordable prices must ensure equitable distribution and call on global bodies, pharmaceutical companies, and other vaccine manufacturing states to prioritize resource and technology transfer to produce vaccines locally,” said Yamini Mishra.
Bangladesh begins second phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive
Bangladesh Thursday began its second phase of inoculating people against the coronavirus disease amid uncertainty around vaccine availablity.
State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury got his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. He took the first shot of the vaccine at the same medical facility on February 8.
Also Read: Covid vaccination in Bangladesh to start in first week of Feb
“We should not depend only on vaccines to be free of coronavirus. Everyone should be more aware and abide by the health directives issued by the government,” the Minister said after receiving the jab.
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak also got his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at BSMMU, while Textile and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi received the jab at the National Heart Institute, Dhaka.
The government is supposed to get 50 lakh doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine every month as per a deal between India's Serum Institute and Bangladeshi pharma company Beximco.
The country has so far received two shipments of 70 lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Apart from this, Bangladesh received two consignments of 32 lakh doses of the vaccine as gifts from India.
Lockdown in Bangladesh enters day 2 amid public apathy
The weeklong lockdown in Bangladesh entered the second day on Tuesday with a growing public apathy to it as a large number of private vehicles, rickshaws and auto-rickshaws started plying the city streets and people moving freely ignoring the risks of Covid-19 transmission.
However, public transports went off the roads while shops remained shut in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.
Also Read: Experts find lockdown in Bangladesh “unscientific, halfhearted”
Office-goers endured sufferings to reach their destinations as they did the previous day.
Alongside private cars, rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, microbus and CNG-run auto-rickshaws and many ride-sharing services were seen operating in the capital as usual.
Shopping malls are closed as per the government instruction but shops were seen open in many areas.
Visiting many city areas, the UNB correspondent found shops in lanes and by-lanes open despite the lockdown.
Members of law enforcement agencies were seen at many points providing masks to those moving without masks ignoring the health guidelines.
Also Read: Homebound people flock at launch and bus terminals dreadin...
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has taken the initiative to distribute masks to raise awareness among people, said Iftekharul Islam, additional deputy commissioner of police (media).
The points include Jatrabari intersection, Kaptan Bazar, Shapla Chattar, Uttar Badda Bazar and Khalpar areas of the city.
Experts find lockdown in Bangladesh “unscientific, halfhearted”
Though a nationwide lockdown has been enforced in Bangladesh for one week with a high hope to limit the spread of deadly Coronavirus, health experts think that this ‘unscientific and halfhearted’ lockdown is unlikely to yield any positive result.
They said the widespread movement of people, demonstrations and public gatherings at kitchen markets and other places on the first day of lockdown have exhibited that people did not take this “partial” shutdown seriously since offices, factories and Amar Ekushey Book Fair are open.
Also Read: Ekushey Book Fair to remain open from 12 to 5pm amid
The experts suggested enforcing a complete lockdown for 14 days shutting down all the offices, mills, factories, book fair and businesses, except those engaged in emergency services, and enforcing it strictly by involving public representatives to break the Covid transmission cycle.
A nationwide lockdown for a week was enforced on Monday morning as part of a move to slow down the rapid spike in both coronavirus infection and mortality rates.
It is the first official lockdown in Bangladesh to tamp the virus. On March 26 last year, the government had declared general holidays along with a transport shutdown instead of enforcing lockdown as the country was witnessing the surge in coronavirus transmission.
Also Read: Lockdown Day 1: Protests held, health rules, govt directives not followed
‘Halfhearted’ lockdown unproductive
Talking to UNB, Prof Muzaherul Huq, a former adviser to WHO South-East Asia region, said: “We can't call it a lockdown since the government has kept mills, factories, offices and even the book fair open. This is not the scientific way to restrict public movement.”
He said lockdown means controlling the movement of people completely. “Lockdown means everything will be closed. Only some important emergency services, drugstores and certain markets from where people can buy food can remain open.”
Muzaherul said the seven-day restriction enforced by the government does not match with the principle and definition of lockdown. “It’s an unscientific, unplanned and halfhearted lockdown. It won’t help the nation get success in containing the virus transmission.”
Noted virologist Prof Nazrul Islam, also a member of the National Technical Advisory Committee, said lockdown is a universally accepted system to control the movement of people by shutting down everything, except emergency services.
He said it seems the government enforced a partial lockdown keeping many things open. “A partial lockdown can be enforced in any particular area, not across the country. It’ll be only waste of energy, loss of money. The desired goal can’t be achieved with it.”
Also Read: Homebound people flock at launch and bus terminals dreading lockdown
Prof Nazrul said people did not take the lockdown seriously as there is no strong monitoring and enforcement of laws to implement the lockdown.
Lockdown should be 14 days
Public health expert MH Chowdhury (Lenin), chairman of the medicine department at the Health and Hope Hospital, said a complete lockdown should be enforced for at least 14 days to slow down the virus transmission.
“Two weeks are an incubation period for coronavirus in human bodies. So, the virus transmission cycle can’t be broken with a seven-day lockdown,” he said.
Lenin said people violated the restriction enforced by the government for seven days on the very first day as there is no seriousness among them about the shutdown.
Also Read: Govt set to enforce 7-day lockdown from Monday
“I think the government should immediately work out effective plans to enforce a strict lockdown. Law enforcers should enhance their monitoring so that no one can come out of home without any genuine need. A situation should be created so that people don’t dare to go outside unnecessarily. Or else, we can’t achieve anything from the relaxed lockdown.”
Engaging public representatives
Prof Nazrul Islam said it is not possible for the law enforcement agencies alone to implement the lockdown without the cooperation and involvement of people at every level, especially the public representatives. “But the government has not taken any step to engage public representatives to enforce the lockdown.”
He said a monitoring team should be formed at every locality to enforce the lockdown and stop the unnecessary public movement.
Prof Nazrul Islam said the government should come up with directives about how the local public representatives and administration can stand by poor people being hit hard by the shutdown. “People will come out if there’s no food at their homes.”
Besides, the expert said, there should be a clear directive as to how people will buy food and necessary items amid the lockdown maintaining health safety rules.
“Big blunder”
Dr Abu Jamil Faisel, a member of the public health expert team formed for the eight divisions, said the government made a blunder by allowing people to leave Dhaka before the lockdown. “Many people carrying the virus went to different places before the lockdown which will only help the virus spread fast across the country.”
He said the lockdown was declared for not allowing people to go to their village homes. “It’s enforced to keep people where they’re staying so that the virus can’t spread.”
The expert said the government should have stopped the transport services before announcing the lockdown decision. “People would not have been able to leave Dhaka had the government done it.”
Reinforcing lockdown
Dr Faisel said the government issued an 18-point directive before enforcing the lockdown. “There was a plan to implement the directives through coordinated efforts by 10 ministries, but that didn’t happen, and it ultimately forced the government to take a decision about the lockdown.”
He said the government enforced the lockdown hurriedly without working out necessary plans to implement it. “There’s still a chance to reinforce the lockdown taking some corrective measures.”
“What’s the justification of enforcing a lockdown by keeping everything -- expect shops and malls and transports -- open? The book fair is open for no reason. This fair should be stopped right now. If necessary, it can be run virtually. Public movement can’t be controlled by keeping the fair and offices open,” the expert added.
Global Covid cases surpass 131.6 million
The global number of confirmed Covid -19 cases surpassed 131.6 million on Tuesday, while fatalities topped 2.8 million, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
To be specific, the total case count currently stands at 131,696,594 and the death toll at 2,859,357, as per the university tally.
Also Read: Global Covid cases hit 130.6 million
The US, the world's worst-hit country, has so far recorded 30,777,338 cases and 555,403 deaths, according to the university.
Brazil’s Covid-19 cases have now surged past 13 million, with the country reporting 28,645 new infections and 1,319 deaths in the past 24 hours.
The South American nation's tally currently stands at 13,013,601 and fatalities at 332,752, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
The South American country is one of the global epicentres of the Covid-19 pandemic, suffering the world's second-worst outbreak in terms of both deaths and infections, only after the United States.
Besides, India which is the world's third worst-hit country in terms of cases and 4th in terms of deaths, has so far reported 12,589,067 cases and 165,101 deaths.
According to the university data, Bangladesh holds 33rd position in terms of Covid-19 cases.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded more than 7,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row Monday, as the country is struggling with the rising number of infections during its second wave.
Health authorities recorded 7,075 fresh Covid-19 cases in 24 hours till Monday morning. And with 52 new deaths during the period, the coronavirus fatalities rose to 9,318. The mortality rate, however, remained static at 1.45 percent.
Amid the worsening Covid situation, the government enforced a 7-day lockdown from Monday restricting people’s movement, shutting shops and markets and suspending operations of public transport (bus, train and domestic flights).
Bangladesh has so far recorded 644,439 coronavirus cases, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Vaccination drive
The government launched a countrywide vaccination campaign on February 7, with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.
Bangladesh inked an agreement with Serum in December last year for acquiring 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum is supposed to supply the doses between January and June this year – 5 million each month.