coronavirus
Global leaders commit support for equitable access to Covid vaccines
The global leaders have pledged financing, dose donations, support for country readiness and delivery, and scale-up of global manufacturing to enable equitable access to Covid vaccines.
To improve access for the lower-income economies, the US will contribute an additional 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, to be delivered through COVAX, beginning in 2022. Sweden will provide an additional $243 million through 2021 and 2022.
New dose commitments from the European Union, including Italy and Spain, as well as Sweden, Denmark, and Japan mean further doses will be available to COVAX participants in 2021 and 2022.
Global leaders made the commitment while attending the Global Covid-19 Summit hosted by the US Thursday.
They underlined their commitment to ensuring equitable access to Covid vaccines for all countries through COVAX – noting that equitable access is essential to end the acute stage of the pandemic.
Building on the momentum and global solidarity generated over the past eighteen months by various commitments, including at summits organised by the European Commission, the G20 under the Saudi and Italian presidencies, the UK, including the G7 under its presidency, the US, and the prime minister of Japan, the summit saw further pledges made to COVAX and equitable access.
READ: Declare Covid vaccines as 'global public good': Hasina
Alongside these commitments, several countries pledged additional dose donations to be made available to countries around the world, including through COVAX, with Spain pledging an additional 7.5 million doses, Italy pledging an additional 30 million doses to be made available by the end of the year.
And Japan, which hosted the "One World Protected" Gavi COVAX AMC Summit in June 2021, pledging approximately 60 million doses.
Also, Denmark announced during the United Nations General Assembly this week that it would be doubling its dose donation commitment, bringing the total to 6 million doses pledged to be shared.
José Manuel Barroso, chair of the Gavi board, said this summit marks a major step forward in the global response against Covid and a major step forward for multilateralism.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, said if they are to meet the targets they have set of vaccinating 10% of the population of all countries by the end of this month, 40% by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-next-year, they need to drastically scale up access to vaccines now.
Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said with only 12% of the pledges made earlier this year turning into actual doses, low-income countries can no longer wait. "We urge dose-sharing countries to accelerate their donation plans."
READ: Conduct study to understand vaccine performances, suitability in Bangladesh: Experts
Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, said with the rise of variants and the current gap in equitable access to Covid vaccines they must urgently vaccinate those most at risk everywhere in the world.
"We cannot afford further delays in getting vaccines to the most vulnerable – to do so will mean a continuation of this pandemic and its impact on all of our lives."
So far COVAX has delivered more than 300 million doses to 142 economies, and according to the latest forecast, approximately 1.2 billion doses will be available for the lower-income economies supported by the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) by the end of 2021.
This is enough to protect 20% of the population, or 40% of all adults, in all 92 AMC economies with the exception of India.
The key COVAX milestone of 2 billion doses released for delivery is now expected to be reached in the first quarter of 2022.
'Rich man's disease': Curious case of Covid in Dhaka slums
Enforcing social distancing is easier said than done in Dhaka, a city where the average home is less than 120 square feet and a million people live in cheek-by-jowl urban slums.
In the capital's Korail Bosti, an informal settlement of over 1 lakh residents, people live packed together, and few have access to health care.
Social distancing is a way of controlling the infectious Covid-19. But maintaining physical distance and personal hygiene to stop the outbreak seems impossible here. There are homes of just one room with a family of six to seven people living inside.
Also, shared kitchens, toilets, communal water sources, open sewers, non-existent waste disposal systems and the dwellers' poor economic conditions make them more vulnerable.
As the pandemic unfolded in the country, the slums of the city were feared to become virus hotspots. However, there has been no evidence so far that Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the slums.
Covid-19 is a rich man's disease, believe many slum dwellers and do not find it necessary to wear a mask. And it is unthinkable to enforce social distancing there where people live in very close quarters.
Virologists say that the urban slums, including Korail, were always vulnerable not only to Covid-19 infections but also to all other viral diseases.
However, a recent study, carried out by the icddr,b found 71 per cent of slum dwellers in Dhaka have developed coronavirus antibodies.
The icddr,b conducted the study "Drivers of Covid 19 in Slums and Non-slum Areas of Dhaka and Chattogram" on slum and non-slum areas in Dhaka and Chattogram between October last year and February this year.
The slum dwellers might be already affected by a virus that works as a bulwark against Covid, protecting many poor people living there, according to experts.
India warns of tit-for-tat action against UK's Covid vaccine policy
India Tuesday warned of a tit-for-tat action if Britain did not recognise Covishield as a legitimate anti-corona vaccine for its nationals travelling to the UK.
Terming Britain's new Covid vaccine policy as "discriminatory", Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla made it clear that India could "take reciprocal measures" if the matter was not resolved at the earliest.
"The non-recogition of Covishield is a discriminating policy and impacts our citizens travelling to the UK," Shringla told the media in the Indian capital.
"The External Affairs Minister has raised the issue strongly with the new UK foreign secretary. I am told that certain assurances have been given that this issue will be resolved," the Foreign Secretary added.
His warning came on a day Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar tweeted about raising the issue with his British counterpart Liz Truss on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"Pleased to meet new UK Foreign Secretary @trussliz... Urged early resolution of quarantine issue in mutual interest," Jaishankar tweeted earlier in the day.
As per the new vaccine rules, Indian nationals travelling to the UK will have to undergo self-isolation for 10 days even if they have received both doses of Covishield -- the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.
Covid daily-death toll in Bangladesh falls to 26
Bangladesh registered 26 more Covid-related deaths in 24 hours till Monday Morning, the lowest in in around four months.
The country last recorded 22 single-day Covid deaths on May 27, this year.
Besides, 1,555 more people came out positive with the virus during the 24-hour period after testing 27,431 samples, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Declining trend in Covid cases continues: DGHS
With this increase, the daily case positivity rate rose to 5.67 percent from Sunday’s 5.62 percent.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total covid-19 fatalities to 27,251 today (Monday), while the caseload mounted to 1,544,238, said the DGHS.
Meanwhile, it said, the fatality rate remained static at 1.76 per cent.
Besides, the recovery rate continued to rise as it reached 97.34 per cent on Monday with the recovery of 1,565 patients during the 24-hour period.
Also read: No vaccine crisis in the country: Health Minister
So far, 1,503,106 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS added.
UK removes Bangladesh from travel red list
After repeated requests, the UK has removed Bangladesh from its travel red list.
Bangladesh is moving to the amber list from 4am Wednesday (September 22).
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen welcomed the decision and thanked the British government for considering Bangladesh’s request.
Apart from Bangladesh, seven more countries have been removed from the harshest restrictions (red list) on travel.
Read: FM reiterates call for removing Bangladesh from UK's Covid red list
University students must complete vaccine registration by Sept 27: Dipu Moni
All the university students must complete vaccine registration by September 27 so that syndicate and academic councils can decide to reopen their universities, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday.
The minister said this after a virtual meeting on reopening universities with Vice-Chancellors, representatives of University Grants Commission (UGC), secretary for Secondary and Higher Education division, president of the national technical committee on Covid-19 and officials concerned.
Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury also attended the meeting.
According to a decision of the meeting, the teachers, students and officials of all the universities of the country will have to register for vaccination against Covid-19 by September 27.
Follow health guidelines, reiterates Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged all to follow the health guidelines to protect themselves from coronavirus and wear masks even after getting vaccinated.
“We should follow health protocols to keep ourselves safe from Coronavirus. All, including those vaccinated, should mask up to prevent the spread of the virus,” she said.
The Prime Minister came up with her renewed call while speaking at Parliament on a condolence motion.
Parliament unanimously adopted a condolence motion expressing profound grief at the demise of Jatiya Party MP for reserved women seat and a presidium member of Jatiya Party Prof Masuda M Rashid Chowdhury.
Speaking on the condolence motion, leader of the House and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the demise of Prof Masuda caused a huge loss to society. “She was a very learned person…these days such a knowledgeable person is rarely seen,” she said.
Hasina said she was a teacher, politician, social worker, women entrepreneur, and engaged in children and women sports with versatile qualities.
Read: Take Covid-19 vaccine, follow health guidelines: PM Hasina
The Prime Minister said had Prof Masuda been lived longer she could have contributed more to society.
Hasina expressed her profound shock as the 11th Parliament is taking condolence motion one after another due to the deaths of its members.
Jatiya Party chairman and deputy leader of the opposition GM Quader, opposition chief whip Masiur Rahman Ranga, Anisul Islam Mahmud, BNP MP Harun Ur Rashid, Jatiya Party MP Nazma Akther, AL MP Moslem Uddin Ahmed, Jatiya Party MP Lazi Firoz Rashid, AL MP Abdus Sobhan Miah, Jatiya Party MP Shamim Haider Patwary, AL MPs Syeda Johra Alauddin, Simin Hossain Rimi and Washiqua Ayesha Khan also spoke on the condolence motion.
Prof Masuda M Rashid Chowdhury passed away on Monday at the age of 70. She was elected MP for the first time in 2019 from reserved seats for women in parliament.
Global Covid cases near 225 million
The global Covid-19 caseload is fast approaching another grim milestone of 225 million, with the world still struggling to contain the deadly virus due to emergence of new variants.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 224,625,126 and 4,630,376, respectively, as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 5,678,108,509 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
Read: Unvaccinated 11 times more likely to die from Covid: CDC
The US has logged 40,955,201 cases and 659,970 deaths to date, according to 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 20,999,779 cases with 586,851 fatalities so far, according to its health ministry.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 33,236,921 on Sunday, as 28,591 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 338 deaths were recorded since Saturday morning, taking the death toll to 442,655.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 51 more Covid-19 deaths and 1,871 cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country reported 38 Covid-related deaths and 2,325 cases on Friday, indicating a significant drop in daily cases but a slight increase in fatalities, DGHS said.
Read: No room to defy Covid norms at schools, colleges: Dipu Moni
The daily case positivity rate increased a bit to 7.46% from 7.03 % on Saturday suggesting that the pandemic is easing in Bangladesh.
The fresh numbers pushed the country’s total fatalities to 26,931 while the cases reached 15,30,413, the DGHS said.
The new cases were detected after testing 25,074 samples during the 24-hour period.
Besides, the recovery rate rose to 96.63 per cent while the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.76 per cent compared to the corresponding period.
Unvaccinated 11 times more likely to die from Covid: CDC
New US studies released Friday show the Covid-19 vaccines remain highly effective against hospitalisations and death even as the highly contagious delta variant swept the country.
One study tracked over 600,000 Covid-19 cases in 13 states from April through mid-July. As delta surged in early summer, those who were unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely than the fully vaccinated to get infected, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalised and 11 times more likely to die, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"Vaccination works," Dr Rochelle Walensky, CDC's director, told a White House briefing Friday.
But as earlier data has shown, protection against Covid infection is slipping: It was 91% in the spring but 78% in June and July, the study found.
So-called "breakthrough" cases in the fully vaccinated accounted for 14% of hospitalisations and 16% of deaths in June and July, about twice the percentage as earlier in the year.
An increase in those percentages is not surprising: No one ever said the vaccines were perfect and health experts have warned that as more Americans get vaccinated, they naturally will account for a greater fraction of the cases.
Read: Global vaccine disparity gets sharper amid talk of boosters
Rochelle said Friday that well over 90% of people in US hospitals with Covid are unvaccinated.
The CDC released two other studies Friday that signalled hints of waning protection for older adults. One examined Covid hospitalisations in nine states over the summer and found protection for those 75 and older was 76% compared to 89% for all other adults. And in five Veterans Affairs medical centres, protection against Covid hospitalisations was 95% among 18- to 64-year-olds compared to 80% among those 65 and older.
It is not clear if the changes seen over time are because immunity is waning in people first vaccinated many months ago, that the vaccine is not quite as strong against delta – or that much of the country abandoned masks and other precautions just as delta started spreading.
But the US health authorities will consider this latest real-world data as they decide if at least some Americans need a booster, and how soon after their last dose. Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will publicly debate Pfizer's application to offer a third shot.
No tiffin, masks at a premium, & may close again: Students return to school tomorrow
On the eve of schools reopening in Bangladesh after almost 18 months, the head of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has announced that students returning to school from Sunday will not be allowed to consume their tiffin or any food on the school premises, as part of the safety protocols that are being carefully stipulated ahead of the doors opening tomorrow morning.
“Students won’t be able to have their tiffin on school premises," said Dr. Syed Md. Golam Faruk, who serves as Director General of DSHE. "The institutions will only allow drinking water."
Dr Faruk was responding to reporters' questions after inaugurating the Sylhet Government Women's College's Guardian Camp on Saturday (September 11th) morning.
During this time he also requested the parents to avoid gathering at the school premises unnecessarily, for the sake of social distancing.