coronavirus vaccine
54 lakh more vaccine doses to arrive by Aug 15: Minister
Some 54 lakh more vaccine doses will arrive in Bangladesh by August 15 as the government has geared up its vaccination campaign, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
“Some 34 lakh doses of vaccine under Covax facility will arrive between August 9-10 to August 15 in addition to 10 lakh doses, purchased from China. Another 10 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine will arrive as a gift,” he said.
Read: Moderna says vaccine 93% effective but seeks 3rd-shot in fall
The health minister revealed the information while talking to reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat.
This will help the country make the ongoing vaccination drive more dynamic, he said, adding, “We’ve started a successful vaccination drive that actually began on August 7.”
Zahid Maleque said rural people are taking jabs in a festive mood as long queues are seen during vaccination. “We’ve planned to vaccinate 600 people in each union but people are overcrowding the vaccine centres,” he added.
Read: Dr Zafrullah describes how Bangladesh can go for low-cost vaccine production
Minister Maleque said, “Those who’ve failed to take shots in their arms got that the following day. Besides, the remote areas have also been brought under immunisation drive as they’re interested in taking shots now.”
He said the vaccination drive in municipality areas will continue alongside the routine vaccination 30 lakh people have been brought under the mega vaccination process. “We’ve got approval to procure 6 crore more doses of vaccine from China.”
Read: Covid vaccine seekers overwhelm Suhrawardy Hospital; chaos all around
As the ruthless Delta variant of Covid-19 keeps spreading like wildfire, Bangladesh on Saturday kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating 35 lakh people in six days.
Covid jabs will be administered simultaneously in 4,600 unions, 1,054 municipality areas and 433 wards of the city corporations, Director General of Health Services Dr ABM Khurshid Alam told the media on Friday.
Better immune response from mixing Covaxin, Covishield, says ICMR study
A GROUP of 18 people, who had “inadvertently received Covishield as the first jab and Covaxin as the second”, showed better immunogenicity — the ability to generate an immune response — than those who received two doses of the same vaccine, according to a new study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), reports The Indian Express.
In May, 18 villagers in Siddarthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, had received Covaxin as the second dose, six weeks after they got Covishield. The study compared their reaction to 40 recipients of two doses of Covishield and 40 recipients of two doses of Covaxin.
Read:India approves Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
“We compared the safety and immunogenicity profile of them (the group of 18) against that of individuals receiving either Covishield or Covaxin. Lower and similar adverse events following immunisation in all three groups underlined the safety of the combination vaccine-regime,” said the study which is yet to be peer reviewed.
“Immunogenicity profile against Alpha, Beta and Delta variants in the heterologous group was superior; IgG antibody and neutralising antibody response of the participants was also significantly higher compared to that in the homologous groups,” it said.
“Overall, this study demonstrates that immunisation with a heterologous combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccine is safe and elicits better immunogenicity than two doses of homologous vaccination, using the same vaccines,” it said.
While Covishield is built on a viral vector vaccine platform and uses a weakened version of adenovirus, a common cold virus that causes infection in chimpanzees, Covaxin is built on an inactivated whole virus vaccine platform.
Read: BMRC clears Indian Covaxin’s clinical trials in Bangladesh
The study is the first scientific evidence emerging from India on superior immunogenicity profile demonstrated in mixed-vaccine doses. However, the researchers have underlined that to conclusively prove these preliminary findings, “multi-centre” randomised control trials need to be carried out. They have also flagged the study’s limitations: the sample size of 18 participants is small; follow-up period is only 60-70 days after first dose; baseline serological and immunological data of participants is not available.
According to the study, the findings have an “important implication” for the Covid-19 vaccination programme wherein “heterologous immunisation will pave the way for induction of improved and better protection against the variant strains of SARS-CoV-2”.
“This is the first report of heterologous immunisation with an adenovirus vector based and an inactivated whole virion vaccine in humans demonstrating safety and significantly improved immunogenicity… Immunogenicity profile studied against the variants of concerns, Alpha, Beta and Delta variants, demonstrates significantly higher titers in the heterologous group,” it said.
The researchers have said such mixed regimens will help to “overcome the challenges of shortfall of particular vaccines” and “remove hesitancy around vaccines in people’s mind that could have genesis in programmatic ‘errors’ especially in settings where multiple Covid-19 vaccines are being used”.
Read:World's highest motorable road is now in India
On safety, reactogenicity analysis showed that in the heterologous group, 11 per cent reported pain at the injection site; however, during the second dose, no such local adverse event was reported, it said.
The most commonly reported systemic adverse event was pyrexia (raised body temperature) and malaise (discomfort): 33.3 per cent reported this during the first dose, and 5.5 percent during the second dose. “No other systemic AEFI like, urticaria, nausea, vomiting, arthralgia or cough was reported,” said the study.
Currently, the Indian drug regulator has granted permission to CMC Vellore to conduct Phase 4 clinical trials to assess the efficacy of a combination of Covishield and Covaxin doses as compared to the current protocol of using two doses of the same vaccine.
India approves Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
India has approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Saturday, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet, reports Gulf News.
The pharmaceutical giant had applied for emergency use approval of its vaccine, the company had said on Friday. The shot will be brought to India through a supply agreement with homegrown vaccine maker Biological E Ltd, J&J had said.
Read: Indian state to name roads & schools after Olympic medal winners
Indian health authorities have so far approved the use of vaccines developed by AstraZeneca (AZN.L), Bharat Biotech, Russia’s Gamaleya Institute and Moderna.
Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 200 million earlier in the week, according to a Reuters tally, as the more-infectious Delta variant threatens areas with low vaccination rates and strains healthcare systems.
Read: World's highest motorable road is now in India
India has reported an average of 30,000 to 40,000 new coronavirus cases every day since July, and the federal government has warned that although cases have dipped from a high of 400,000 daily at the peak of the deadly second wave, the danger has not abated yet.
Pregnant, lactating women to get Covid jab: DGHS
The government has included pregnant and lactating women in the nationwide Covid-19 inoculation programme amid a worrying rise in Covid-19 hospital admissions across the country.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued a notice regarding this Sunday.
Although the pregnant women are now eligible for Covid-19 vaccination, they must follow some instructions before getting jabbed, according to the DGHS.
They have to take the Covid shots from government vaccination centres with medical facilities after getting counselling from a registered physician there.
Mothers-to-be who are unwell, suffering from chronic illness or have a history of vaccine allergy will not be allowed to take the jabs.
Read: Covid vaccine seekers overwhelm Suhrawardy Hospital; chaos all around
Also, they cannot take the second dose of vaccine if an AFI case is detected among them after taking the first shot.
And expectant mums will have to provide all health information to the registered doctor before getting jabbed.
Also, doses cannot be administered without the signed approval of a guardian or vaccine recipient and counselling a physician.
However, the lactating mothers can take a Covid shot like everyone else.
Earlier, the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group recommended the government for providing Covid vaccine to both mums-to-be and lactating mothers.
Read: Bangladesh to procure 6 crore Sinopharm vaccine doses: Minister
Expectant mums and lactating mothers were excluded from the Covid mass vaccination programme in Bangladesh from the beginning.
Earlier this year, when Covid vaccination was initiated in countries across the world mums-to-be were excluded from the programme due to a lack of safety information.
Now the UK Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend Covid vaccines for expectant mums and lactating women.
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalisations, and death and with the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever, according to the CDC.
"Pregnant and recently pregnant people are more likely to get severely ill with Covid-19 compared with non-pregnant people. If you are pregnant, you can receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Getting a Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy can protect you from a severe illness Covid-19," it added.
Moderna says vaccine 93% effective but seeks 3rd-shot in fall
Moderna Inc said its Covid-19 vaccine remained 93% effective through six months after the second shot but pointed to the likelihood of the need for a third-dose booster in the fall.
The company attributed the need for a booster shot to what it calls "increased force of infection" resulting from the highly contagious Delta variant that is expected to push up the number of breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals.
"We are pleased that our Covid-19 vaccine is showing durable efficacy of 93% through six months, but recognise that the Delta variant is a significant new threat," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said Thursday as the company reported its second-quarter earnings and revenue.
Read: 11 billion-plus doses needed to vaccinate 70% people: Guterres
Antibody levels are expected to "continue to wane and eventually impact vaccine efficacy," which leads to the view that a third booster shot will likely be necessary before the winter season," the Massachusetts-based firm said.
Moderna's vaccine, which uses a new technology known as messenger RNA, was the second type of two-dose vaccines that were granted emergency use authorisation by the US drug regulator in December last year.
The company's latest analysis of a clinical trial showed the vaccine had a 93.2% efficacy against Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, and 98.2% efficacy against severe symptoms, with no deaths reported.
Read: Bangladesh to procure 6 crore Sinopharm vaccine doses: Minister
But the data does not include the vaccine's performance against the Delta variant, first detected in India.
So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 14,733,314 doses of Covid vaccines – including 110,1897 Moderna shots.
There are many variants of SARS-CoV-2 that can cause Covid. Each variant is the result of a random mutation of the original virus.
The main variant of concern now in Bangladesh, and indeed worldwide, is the Delta variant. This variant spreads more quickly than the original virus, increasing the number of hospitalisations or deaths.
11 billion-plus doses needed to vaccinate 70% people: Guterres
More than 11 billion doses are needed to vaccinate 70% of the global population – a key threshold to ending the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UN chief said Thursday.
This will take the largest public health effort in history, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said while addressing the first International Forum on Covid-19 Vaccine Cooperation in China through a video message.
The global pandemic has already claimed more than 4 million lives. Against this backdrop, Guterres underscored that the world needs a Global Vaccine Plan to at least double vaccine production and ensure equitable distribution, using COVAX as a platform.
"We also need an Emergency Task Force – at the G20 level – to coordinate its implementation," he said.
Read: Moderna says vaccine 93% effective but seeks 3rd-shot in fall
Although the remarkable and rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines offers "great hope" that the devastating pandemic can be overcome, everyone must be reached everywhere, "as quickly as possible," the UN chief said.
To double the manufacturing capacity, a much greater sharing of technology and know-how will be needed.
It will also require strengthening and building local production capacities around the world and addressing supply chain bottlenecks, according to the UN chief.
"This is a matter of fairness and justice – but it is also critical to avoid the emergence of further variants that can resist the current vaccines and undermine national vaccination efforts," he said.
Read: Bangladesh to procure 6 crore Sinopharm vaccine doses: Minister
The UN chief welcomed agreements signed last month with the UN-led equitable vaccine distribution initiative, COVAX, for the provision of Chinese-developed Sinopharm and Sinovac shots, saying the deal unlocked potential supplies of more than 500 million doses.
Also, the top UN official described the first meeting of the International Vaccine Forum as "a critical opportunity to bring together countries with vaccine production capacities, pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers to advance global cooperation on vaccines."
Bangladesh reports 248 more deaths as Delta variant keeps lashing
As the ruthless Delta variant keeps spreading like wildfire, Bangladesh added 248 fatalities to its national tally Friday, up from 212 logged a week earlier.
The country has been reporting over 200 single-day fatalities for the last two weeks as it races to head off a surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the unrelenting Delta variant.
After weathering the first wave of the virus, Bangladesh's health services are now stretched dangerously thin.
The Covid-19 infections are on the upswing, with 13,771 – 95% of the peak – new cases reported on average each day.
Bangladesh recorded 12,606 new cases on Friday after testing 48,015 samples, down from 13,862 logged a week earlier on July 30.
Read: Bangladesh ready to kick off massive vaccination drive Saturday: DGHS DG
The country reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 264 on August 5 and 16,230 infections on July 28.
Bangladesh ready to kick off massive vaccination drive Saturday: DGHS DG
With a fresh stock of vaccine doses on hand, Bangladesh is set to gear up the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive to take it to the next level as it aims to inoculate 80% of its population with each person getting two doses administered.
Addressing a press briefing at BCPS auditorium on Friday, Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said they are ready to accelerate the drive across the country on Saturday.
Read: Bangladesh to receive 34 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses next week: FM
He said those above 25 years of age will be vaccinated, giving priority to senior people and women and physically-challenged ones.
Initially, he said, 35 lakh people will be vaccinated and those living in inaccessible remote areas will also be brought under the drive.
With 32,706 vaccinators and 48,459 volunteers ready, the government has planned to administer jabs simultaneously in 4,600 unions, 1,054 municipality areas, and in 433 wards of the city corporations, said Khurshid Alam.
Campaign timeline and areas:
On August 7, the vaccination campaign will kick off in all union, municipality and city corporation areas.
During August 8-9, vaccine jabs will be administered in the excluded wards of unions and municipal areas where already the campaign was underway.
During August 10-12, Covid jabs will be administered among Rohingya citizens over 55 years old.
Read:AL rank and file directed to mount campaign in favour of vaccination drive
Bangladesh to receive 34 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses next week: FM
Bangladesh will receive another consignment of 34 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine next week while 60 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine in the first week of September, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday.
Apart from that, Bangladesh will also receive 10 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine soon which is likely to come under the COVAX facility, he said.
“We’ve lined up well. We think we’re on the right track,” he told reporters at State guesthouse Padma after attending a function there.
Referring to the Health Ministry, Dr Momen said Bangladesh has a stock of 1.23 crore vaccine doses and some of the doses (AstraZeneca) will be kept for the second dose.
Read: No movement without vaccine will be allowed after Aug. 11: Minister
On coproduction of vaccine, he said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on coproduction of Sinopharm vaccine in Bangladesh will be signed at any moment.
The Law Ministry has already cleared it after vetting and it will be signed at any moment, said the Foreign Minister adding that “Everything is final.”
Dr Momen said the coproduction of vaccine doses in Bangladesh is essential. “I want the start of coproduction.”
Earlier, he said the MoU is with the Health Ministry and the Health Ministry should dispose of it very quickly.
Read: Vaccine coproduction deal with Sinopharm ready for signing: FM
Dr Momen said the government of Bangladesh, Sinopharm and a local company (Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd) will sign the agreement.
Incepta will bring in bulk and bottling, labeling and finishing of the vaccine will be done locally making the price relatively very cheap.
Asked whether there is any shift from the government plan to vaccinate 1 crore people each week, Dr Momen said it is their target as per the Health Ministry and hoped to vaccinate 8 crore people within two months.
Global Covid cases top 200 million
The global Covid-19 caseload has now surged past the grim milestone of 200 million, as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to devastate several countries even with mass inoculations underway.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 200,136,419 and 4,254,976, respectively, as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 4,265,470,393 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
Read: US plans to require COVID-19 shots for foreign travelers
The US has logged 35,331,683 cases and 614,797 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
India recorded the world's second largest caseload of 31,769,132, followed by Brazil with 20,026,533 cases as well as the world's second largest death toll of 559,607. Besides, India’s death toll reached 425,757 on Thursday morning.
Countries with more than four million cases include Russia, France, Britain, Turkey, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy and Iran, while those with over 100,000 deaths include India, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Britain, Italy, Colombia and France.
The global caseload reached the grim milestone of 100 million on January 26, and doubled in more than half a year.
Situation in Bangladesh
As the Covid infection rate continues to swell in Bangladesh, the country recorded 241 more deaths in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
Read: 241 more die in Bangladesh as Covid refuses to slow down
According to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 13,817 more people came out positive with the virus during the period after the test of 49,514 samples.
The fresh numbers have pushed the country’s death tally to 21,638, with the caseload mounting to 1,309,910.
Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate fell slightly to 27.91 % from Tuesday’s 28.58%, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
The recovery rate, however, rose to 87.12%, and the case fatality remained static at 1.65% compared to the same period, said the DGHS.
Read:Covid: Khulna aims to inoculate over 1.16 lakh residents
With the vaccination drive slowly gaining momentum, 216,534 people got their first Sinopharm jab during the period.
Besides, 11,898, 10,931 and 1,026 people received their second dose of Astrazeneca, Sinopharm and Moderna vaccines, respectively, during this period.
Bangladesh is planning to vaccinate one crore people during a special drive from August 7 to 12.