COVID-19 vaccine
Countries worldwide hit new records for virus cases, deaths
Nations around the world set new records Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections, and the disease surged even in some countries that have kept the virus in check. In the United States, Detroit leaders began making a plan to knock on every door to persuade people to get shots.
Brazil this week became just the third country, after the U.S. and Peru, to report a 24-hour tally of COVID-19 deaths that exceeded 4,000. India hit a peak of almost 127,000 new cases in 24 hours, and Iran set a new coronavirus infection record for the third straight day, reporting nearly 22,600 new cases.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to get vaccinated, writing in a tweet: “Vaccination is among the few ways we have to defeat the virus. If you are eligible for the vaccine, get your shot soon.”
The U.S. has now fully vaccinated nearly 20% of its adult population, and New Mexico became the first state to get shots in the arms of 25% of its residents — milestones that are still far off for many hard-hit countries.
Also read: Global Covid cases top 132 million
In India, home to 1.4 billion people, only 11 million are fully vaccinated. In Brazil, less than 3% of the country’s 210 million people have received both doses, according to Our World in Data, an online research site.
South Korea reported 700 more cases, the highest daily jump since Jan. 5. Health authorities were expected to announce measures to strengthen social distancing following a meeting Friday.
In Thailand, which has reported only 95 deaths during the pandemic, health officials reported the country’s first local cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in Britain. The news comes at a time when only 1% of the population has been vaccinated and as Thais prepare to celebrate the traditional Songkran New Year’s holiday next week, typically a time of widespread travel.
That variant is more contagious, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it is now the most common variant in the United States, raising concerns it will drive infections and cause more people to get sick.
Also read: Governments give varying advice on AstraZeneca vaccine
Michigan has averaged more than 7,000 new cases a day — a number that makes the state second in the nation behind New York. Michigan also has the highest number of new cases per capita, with 1 of every 203 state residents getting diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 31 and April 7, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In Detroit, which is about 80% Black, officials said they plan to start visiting homes to talk about the importance of protecting themselves from the virus with vaccinations and how to sign up to receive the shots.
“We’re going to knock on every residential door in the city, making sure every Detroiter knows how to make an appointment,” Victoria Kovari, an executive assistant to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told The Detroit News.
Only 22% of Detroit residents have received at least one vaccine dose compared to 38% for all of Michigan, according to Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Also read: COVAX reaches over 100 economies, 42 days after first international delivery
Other Midwestern states have seen troubling signs in recent days, including a school district in Iowa where 127 students and five staff members tested positive for the coronavirus or are presumed positive.
In Massachusetts, where the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen to over 2,100 new cases per day, the Massachusetts Public Health Association called on Republican Gov. Charlie Baker to reinstate public health measures. The group urged Baker to limit indoor dining capacity and other indoor activities, saying the rise in cases and hospitalizations followed Baker’s decision to loosen those restrictions.
“We are currently in a race between the vaccines and the variants,” Carlene Pavlos, the group’s executive director said Thursday. “Without these public health measures, even more innocent lives will be needlessly lost.”
Governments give varying advice on AstraZeneca vaccine
In Spain, residents now have to be over 60 to get an AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. In Belgium, over 55. In the United Kingdom, authorities recommend the shot not be given to adults under 30 where possible, and Australia’s government announced similar limits Thursday to AstraZeneca shots for those under 50.
A patchwork of advice was emerging from governments across Europe and farther afield, a day after the European Union’s drug regulator said there was a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare clotting disorder while reiterating the vaccine is safe and effective.
Regulators in the United Kingdom and the EU both stressed that the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people, and the EU agency maintained its guidance that the vaccine can be used in all adults. But experts fear the confusing messages about the vaccine could still dampen enthusiasm for it at a time when Europe and many other parts of the world are facing surging cases.
Experts hammered home the rarity of the clots Thursday.
“The risks appear to be extremely low from this very rare side effect,” Anthony R. Cox, of the University of Birmingham’s School of Pharmacy, told the BBC. “I mean it’s the equivalent of the risk of dying in the bath, drowning in the bath, for example, it’s that rare, or a plane landing on your house.”
Also read: UK advises limiting AstraZeneca in under-30s amid clot worry
Dr. Sabine Straus, chair of the EU regulator’s Safety Committee, said the best data was from Germany, where there was one report of the clots for every 100,000 doses given, although she noted far fewer reports in the U.K. Still, that’s less than the clot risk that healthy women face from birth control pills, noted another expert, Dr. Peter Arlett. The agency said most of the cases reported were in women under 60 within two weeks of vaccination, though it was unable to identify specific risk factors based on current information.
The EU is trying, but so far failing, to avoid different policies among its 27 nations, which all look to the European Medicines Agency for guidance. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called Wednesday evening for a coherent approach to ensure that “on the basis of the same set of evidence, similar decisions are taken in different member states.”
News of the tiny risk already is already having an effect. In Croatia, the government said that one in four people due to get an AstraZeneca shot Thursday didn’t show up. Poland, too, has also seen people cancel or not appear for appointments to get the vaccine.
French general practitioner Dr. Joel Valendoff said many of his patients were still coming to get their shot, but many others were canceling.
When vaccines first became available, “I was refusing people because I had a lot of demand and not enough vaccines. Today I am facing the opposite. I have vaccines but not enough volunteers.”
Also read: EU agency: Rare clots possibly linked to AstraZeneca shot
Mbaye Thiam, a 59-year-old Parisian, was among those who got vaccinated.
“I am closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation throughout the world. I am not worried. In an exceptional situation we need exceptional measures,” he said. “It is true that the vaccine was created in a record time, but the world has stopped and we need solutions to make it start again, and the vaccine is one of the solutions.”
European Commission spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said the EMA’s findings were based on its stringent monitoring system and that should promote trust among the bloc’s 27 member states.
“We want to avoid, of course, a vaccination hesitancy,” he said.
Any such reluctance is worrying since experts say the shots are key to stamping out the coronavirus pandemic, but AstraZeneca’s role is especially vital. The vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to store than many others, is critical to immunization campaigns in Europe and the U.K. and is also a pillar of the U.N.-backed program known as COVAX that aims to get vaccines to some of the world’s poorest countries.
John Nkengasong, the top official with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said his group is not issuing new recommendations and that the overarching message from the U.K. and EU regulators was clear.
Also read: UK regulator says AstraZeneca jab safe after 7 clot deaths
“The benefits outweigh the risks because these are very rare occurrences that they are picking up due to very strong surveillance systems that they have put in place,” Nkengasong told a briefing. “So, I think these vaccines continue to be safe.”
Africa’s target is to vaccinate 60% of its 1.3 billion people by the end of 2022 — a goal that could prove extremely hard to achieve without widespread use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, whose country’s vaccination program leans heavily on AstraZeneca’s shot, announced that the Pfizer vaccine should be adopted as the preferred vaccine for people under 50.
“We’ve been taking the necessary precautions based on the best possible medical advice,” Morrison said. “It has not been our practice to jump at shadows.”
Some EU nations were at pains to stress the safety and did not change their advice.
The Polish state TV broadcaster used a headline declaring, “AstraZeneca is safe.”
The head of Italy’s drug regulator, Nicola Magrini, appealed for calm even as she said late Wednesday that Italy will pivot from primarily using the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under 65 to using it on those over 60.
Also read: What we know about AstraZeneca blood clot reports
Underscoring how such changing rules were causing confusion and anxiety, the governor of the Veneto region said operators had fielded 8,000 calls about AstraZeneca in recent days. “Obviously there is some uneasiness spreading,” Luca Zaia told reporters.
Hungarian government minister Gergely Gulyas called the EMA announcement “a clear decision which is in line with the point of view of Hungarian authorities: AstraZeneca is reliable and provides protection.”
German officials made clear that they will stick to their current recommendation — issued March 30 when concerns about the rare clots were already circulating — to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 60 in most cases, in line with larger European nations including Spain and Italy.
In the Croatian capital, Zagreb, Josip Pavlic was among a large group of masked people who lined up for an AstraZeneca vaccination. He said he would take any shot, as infections rise sharply in the country.
“They are all the same to me. The most important is the we have vaccine, and that we can have some protection with vaccine,” he said.
COVAX reaches over 100 economies, 42 days after first international delivery
More than one hundred economies have received life-saving COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, says the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday.
The milestone comes 42 days after the first COVAX doses were shipped and delivered internationally, to Ghana on 24 February 2021.
COVAX has now delivered more than 38 million doses across six continents, supplied by three manufacturers, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Of the over 100 economies reached, 61 are among the 92 lower-income economies receiving vaccines funded through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
Despite reduced supply availability in March and April – the result of vaccine manufacturers scaling and optimizing their production processes in the early phase of the rollout, as well as increased demand for COVID-19 vaccines in India – COVAX expects to deliver doses to all participating economies that have requested vaccines in the first half of the year.
Also read: Covishield and Covaxin: What we know about India's Covid-19 vaccines
“In four months since the very first mass vaccination outside a clinical setting anywhere in the world, it is tremendously gratifying that the roll-out of COVAX doses has already reached one hundred countries,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Berkley said COVAX may be on track to deliver to all participating economies in the first half of the year yet they still face a daunting challenge as they seek to end the acute stage of the pandemic: they will only be safe when everybody is safe and our efforts to rapidly accelerate the volume of doses depend on the continued support of governments and vaccine manufacturers.
“As we continue with the largest and most rapid global vaccine rollout in history, this is no time for complacency.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said COVAX has given the world the best way to ensure the fastest, most equitable rollout of safe and effective vaccines to all at-risk people in every country on the planet.
Also read: ‘We sink or we swim together’: 5 things you need to know about COVAX
“If we are going to realize this great opportunity, countries, producers and the international system must come together to prioritize vaccine supply through COVAX. Our collective future, literally, depends on it.”
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) this is a significant milestone in the fight against COVID-19. “Faced with the rapid spread of COVID-19 variants, global access to vaccines is fundamentally important to reduce the prevalence of the disease, slow down viral mutation, and hasten the end of the pandemic.”
“In just a month and a half, the ambition of granting countries access to COVID vaccines is becoming a reality, thanks to the outstanding work of our partners in the COVAX Facility,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
“However, this is no time to celebrate; it is time to accelerate. With variants emerging all over the world, we need to speed up global rollout. To do this, we need governments, along with other partners, to take necessary steps to increase supply, including by simplifying barriers to intellectual property rights, eliminating direct and indirect measures that restrict exports of COVID-19 vaccines, and donating excess vaccine doses as quickly as possible.”
Also read: WHO calls for prioritising vaccine contracts with COVAX
According to its latest supply forecast, COVAX expects to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines in 2021. In order to reach this goal, the COVAX Facility will continue to diversify its portfolio further, and will announce new agreements with vaccine manufacturers in due course.
Furthermore, in March it was announced that the United States government will host the launch event for the 2021 Gavi COVAX AMC Invest Opportunity to catalyze further commitment and support for accelerated access to vaccines for AMC-supported economies.
An additional US$ 2 billion is required in 2021 to finance and secure up to a total of 1.8 billion donor-funded doses of vaccines. COVAX is also working to secure additional sourcing of vaccines in the form of dose-sharing from higher income countries.
South African variant found in 81% Covid-19 samples since third week of March
The South African variant has accounted for 81% of the positive cases in Dhaka since the third week of March 2021.
A research study conducted by the icddr,b has revealed this information.
The research team at icddr,b analysed genomic sequence data of 57 samples of the SATS COV-2 virus in Covid-19 positive patients between March 18 and 24. Forty-six of those samples were found to be the same as the South African variant of novel coronavirus.
Also read: Bangladesh shatters its all-time records of daily Covid cases
This variant is said to have greater transmissibility and harbour new genetic changes, which may impact clinical manifestation and vaccine effectiveness.
Icddr,b identified the first UK variant on 6th January 2021; however, the SARS-CoV-2 sequence database at GISAID.ORG indicated that the UK variant was already circulating in December 2020 in the country. The UK variant gradually increased over time until the second week of March 2021, with the highest positivity rate (52%).
However, a dramatic change in the distribution of variants was observed when the South African variant appeared. It became the most prevalent variant during the third week of March 2021 by replacing other variants. Most remarkably, the South African variant occupied 81% of the variants in the fourth week of March 2021, according to icddr,b website.
Also read: New variant may be behind Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts
In light of this finding, icddr,b urged all to abide by the restrictions recently announced by the Government of Bangladesh.
Vaccines may not work against variants
The head of the World Health Organization has expressed his concerns several times in the past that the vaccines developed so far might be less effective against the variant first detected in South Africa.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing that South Africa’s decision to suspend its vaccination campaign using the AstraZeneca vaccine is “a reminder that we need to do everything we can to reduce the circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.”
Also read: UN: 'Concerning news' vaccines may not work against variants
South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health care workers with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in February this year after a small clinical trial suggested that it isn’t effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country.
Preliminary data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only “minimal protection against mild-moderate disease” caused by the variant in South Africa. The variant appears more infectious and is driving a deadly resurgence of the disease.
Read How to strengthen your immune system to prevent COVID-19 infections?
EU agency: Rare clots possibly linked to AstraZeneca shot
The European Union’s drug regulator will announce the conclusions of its investigation into the possible connection between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and rare blood clots later Wednesday, including recommendations that could have far-reaching effects on the use of the shot that is key to global efforts to end the pandemic.
Earlier this week, a senior official from the European Medicines Agency said there was a causal link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the rare clots that have been seen in dozens of people worldwide, among the tens of millions who have received at least one dose of the shot.
Also Read: Canada pauses AstraZeneca vaccine for under 55
Marco Cavaleri, head of health threats and vaccine strategy at the Amsterdam-based agency, said in comments to Rome’s Il Messaggero newspaper on Tuesday that “it is becoming more and more difficult to affirm that there isn’t a cause-and-effect relationship between AstraZeneca vaccines and the very rare cases of blood clots associated with a low level of platelets.”
But Cavaleri acknowledged the agency hadn’t yet figured out how exactly the vaccine might be causing these rare side effects. The agency said its evaluation “has not yet reached a conclusion and the review is currently ongoing.”
The EMA is particularly focused on two types of rare blood clots: one that appears in multiple blood vessels and another that occurs in a vein that drains blood from the brain. It is also evaluating reports of people who had low levels of blood platelets, which puts them at risk of severe bleeding.
Also Read: UK regulator says AstraZeneca jab safe after 7 clot deaths
The EMA, the World Health Organization and numerous other health authorities have said repeatedly that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective and that the protection it offers against COVID-19 outweighs the small risks of rare blood clots.
As recently as last week, the EMA said “there is no evidence that would support restricting the use of this vaccine in any population” — a response to several countries doing just that — though an expert said more brain clots were being reported than would be expected. To date, most of the cases have been reported in younger women, who are more susceptible to developing such rare clots anyway, making understanding what is causing the clots potentially more difficult.
“The problem is these clots are very unusual, and we don’t really know what the background rate of them is, so it’s very hard to know if the vaccine is contributing to this,” said Dr. Peter English, who formerly chaired the British Medical Association’s Public Health Medicine Committee.
A full investigation would likely take months, but English said given the urgency of the continuing pandemic, regulators would likely make a quick decision.
Also Read: What we know about AstraZeneca blood clot reports
“It’s very likely we will see a suspension of the vaccine’s use in certain groups while they do the further investigations to give us clearer answers,” English said.
In March, more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, suspended their use of AstraZeneca over the blood clot issue. Most restarted — some with age restrictions — after the EMA said countries should continue using the potentially life-saving vaccine.
The suspensions were seen as particularly damaging for AstraZeneca because they came after repeated missteps in how the company reported data on the vaccine’s effectiveness and concerns over how well its shot worked in older people. That has led to frequently changing advice in some countries on who can take the vaccine, raising worries that AstraZeneca’s credibility could be permanently damaged, spurring more vaccine hesitancy and prolonging the pandemic.
English said the back-and-forth over the AstraZeneca vaccine globally could have serious consequences.
“We can’t afford not to use this vaccine if we are going to end the pandemic,” he said.
That’s because the vaccine is cheaper and easier to store than many others, is critical to Europe’s immunization campaign and a pillar of the U.N.-backed program known as COVAX that aims to get vaccines to some of the world’s poorest countries. It has been endorsed for use in more than 50 countries, including by the 27-nation EU and WHO. U.S. authorities are still evaluating the vaccine.
The governor of Italy’s northern Veneto region said any decision to change the guidance on AstraZeneca would cause major disruptions to immunizations — at a time when Europe is already struggling to ramp them up — and could create more confusion about the shot.
“If they do like Germany, and allow Astra Zeneca only to people over 65, that would be absurd. Before it was only for people under 55. Put yourself in the place of citizens, it is hard to understand anything,” Luca Zaia told reporters on Wednesday.
The latest suspension of AstraZeneca came in Spain’s Castilla y León region, where health chief Verónica Casado said Wednesday that “the principle of prudence” drove her to put a temporary hold on the vaccine that she still backed as being both effective and necessary.
“If there are in fact individuals of a certain age group that could have a higher risk (of clotting) then we need to adjust its use,” Casado told Spanish public radio. “We are not questioning AstraZeneca. We need all the vaccines possible to reach the goal of 70% of the adult population.”
French health authorities said they, too, were awaiting EMA’s conclusions and would follow the agency’s recommendations, especially for the 500,000 people who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca.
Even officials in Asia said they were keen to hear the EMA’s decision. On Wednesday, South Korea said it would temporarily suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in people 60 and younger. In that age group, the country is only currently vaccinating health workers and people in long-term care settings.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said it would also pause a vaccine rollout to school nurses and teachers that was to begin on Thursday, while awaiting the outcome of the EMA’s review.
English, the former chair of the British drug regulator, said that even rare, serious side effects are seen with established vaccines and that policymakers often decide that bigger public health goals warrants their use, citing the polio vaccine as an example. For every million doses that are given of the oral polio vaccine, about one child is paralyzed from the live virus contained in the vaccine.
On Tuesday, AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which developed the vaccine, paused a study of the shot in children while the U.K. regulator evaluates the link between the shot and rare blood clots in adults.
Covid vaccine: UNICEF emphasises speed, simplicity to remove barriers
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has said they need speed and simplicity to remove barriers to the acquisition, manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear to us all that no one is safe until everyone is safe. But equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is within our grasp," She said in a statement on Tuesday.
She said they have proven that the world can rally to do the unthinkable, and we need to do it again. "The sooner we do, the sooner our lives, and the lives of our children, will go back to normal.”
In a little over a year, the world’s scientists, businesses, governments, philanthropists and multilateral institutions rallied and did the unthinkable, Fore said.
They created vaccines to fight a virus that had brought the world to a standstill. And they tested, transported and began to administer those vaccines safely and in record time. "This is nothing short of astounding," she said.
“But the fight is not yet over,” Fore said. “Variants are emerging all over the world, and with each, the risk of a massive global setback."
Also read: Vaccine passports are latest flash point in COVID politics
At the current rate, there is simply not enough vaccine supply to meet demand. And the supply available is concentrated in the hands of too few.
Some countries have contracted enough doses to vaccinate their populations several times, while other countries have yet to receive even their first dose.
"This threatens us all. The virus and its mutations will win," Fore said.
In order to get ahead of the virus, and to shift gears, she said, they must build on a strategy of vaccinating frontline workers but drive towards a strategy that truly enables equitable access for all.
The governments, businesses and partners were urged to take three urgent actions:
First, simplify Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) through voluntary and proactive licensing by IPR holders.
Also read: UNICEF launches COVID-19 vaccine market dashboard to ensure fair access
But this alone won’t increase production. Unlike drug manufacture, vaccine production involves a complex manufacturing process with multiple components and steps.
IPR holders would need to provide technology partnerships to accompany IP licenses, proactively share know-how and sub-contract to manufacturers without undue geographic or volume restrictions.
This challenge requires not forced IP waivers but proactive partnership and cooperation. Recent manufacturing partnerships such as Pfizer-BioNtech; AZ-SII, J&J- Merck and J&J-Aspen are encouraging examples.
UNICEF urged others to follow suit, to increase the scale and geographic diversity of manufacturing capacity.
“While markets alone can’t guarantee innovation benefits all, voluntary licensing, pooled funds and multilateral mechanisms such as COVAX are an effective and realistic way for product developers and manufacturers to collaborate, innovate, and encourage equitable access," Fore said.
“Second, we need to end vaccine nationalism. Governments should remove direct and indirect export- and import-control measures that block, restrict or slow down exports of COVID-19 vaccines, ingredients and supplies. Viruses respect no borders. Defeating COVID-19 in each of our home countries also means defeating it around the world by ensuring a steady flow of vaccines and supplies to all."
Also read: UNICEF working with over 350 partners to deliver COVID-19 vaccines
Finally, Fore said, governments that have contracted to receive more ‘future doses’ than required to vaccinate their entire adult populations this year, should immediately loan, release or donate most or all excess contracted doses for 2021 to COVAX, so they can be allocated equitably among other countries.
“In addition, countries with a sufficient, current supply of manufactured doses should consider donating at least 5% of their available manufactured doses right away, and commit to making further contributions on a continued, rolling basis throughout the year, scaling up their contributions in line with rising supply. Confirming these dose-sharing commitments now will enhance predictability, accelerate equitable access, and help stabilise the global vaccine market."
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.
Second dose of Covid vaccine from Thursday: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday reaffirmed that the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine will be rolled out on Thursday next (April 8) as per the schedule.
She came up with the reassurance while presiding over the weekly Cabinet meeting virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
“The Prime Minister has made it clear that the roll-out of the second dose of coronavirus vaccine will begin on April 8 as usual as per the schedule,” said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters after the meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
The roll-out of the first jab of the covid-19 vaccine will start on April 6, he said.
Also Read: 20-30 lakh more doses of Covid-19 vaccine to arrive Feb 22
The Cabinet Secretary said there will be no problem with the stock of the second dose of the vaccines as Bangladesh will get the supply of the vaccines from India within the scheduled time.
The government will review on Thursday next whether the ongoing 7-day Covid-19 lockdown should be extended or not, he said.
Festival allowance for FFs
The Cabinet cleared a proposal for providing two festival allowances (each Tk 10,000) to the gallantry award holding freedom fighters, Tk 2,000 as the Bengali New Year allowance to gallantry award holding freedom fighters, war-wounded freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters’ families and Tk 5,000 as the Victory Day allowance to the living freedom fighters, said the Cabinet Secretary.
Now the gallantry award holding freedom fighters are not getting the two festival allowances, the Bengali New Year allowance and the Victory Day allowance, while war-wounded freedom fighters are not getting the Bengali New Year allowance and the Victory Day allowance and the martyred freedom fighter’s families are not getting the Bengali New Year allowance, he said.
India records highest COVID-19 daily spike of over 100,000 cases
India recorded a single day spike of 103,558 COVID-19 cases on Monday, the highest so far, thus taking the total tally to 12,589,067.
With 478 deaths since Sunday morning, the death toll stood at 165,101.
There are still 741,830 active cases in the country, while 11,682,136 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.
Also Read: India records highest spike of daily COVID-19 cases this year
There was an increase of 50,233 active cases during the past 24 hours, out of which maximum cases were reported from the southwestern state of Maharashtra.
The number of daily active cases has been on the rise over the past few days, as another wave of COVID-19 looms large in India.
In January the number of daily cases in the country went down to below-10,000. As many as 9,102 new cases were reported on Jan. 25-26, which was the lowest in the previous 237 days. Prior to that the lowest number of daily new cases were 9,304 registered on June 4, 2020.
Also Read: India's COVID-19 tally rises to 11,599,130 with nearly 44,000 new cases .
India launched a nationwide vaccination drive on Jan. 16. So far 79,105,163 people have been vaccinated across the country.
Meanwhile, the federal government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities across the country, as over nearly 249 million tests have been conducted so far.
As many as 249,019,657 tests have been conducted till Sunday, out of which 893,749 tests were conducted on Sunday alone, said the latest data issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday.
The national capital Delhi, which has been one of the most COVID-19 affected places in the country, witnessed as many as 4,033 new cases and 21 deaths through Sunday.
As many as 11,081 people have died in the city due to COVID-19, confirmed the Delhi health department. Two types of vaccines are being administered to the people in India.
Global Covid-19 cases surge past 131 million
The global Covid-19 cases surpassed 131 million on Monday despite the rapid vaccination campaign across the world, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The JHU data shows that the global case count reached 131,203,647 as of Monday morning while the death toll from the virus mounted to 2,852,196.
Also Read: Global Covid cases hit 130.6 million
The confirmed cases of Covid-19 surpassed 30 million in the USA alone on March 25.
The global death toll from Covid-19 now stands at over 555,001.
On Sunday, Brazil registered 1,240 more deaths and 31,359 new cases, with the total fatalities reaching 331,433, its health ministry reported.
Registering a total of 12,984,956 infections, Brazil is currently one of the global epicenters of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the world's second-worst outbreak in terms of both deaths and infections, only after the United States.
Also Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records 6000+ cases for 2nd straight day
As of Saturday, Brazil has vaccinated 24.5 million people against Covid-19. Among them, 19.18 million received the first dose while 5.32 million both doses.
India’s total tally reached 12,495,509 while the death toll 64,623.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded 7,087 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours until Sunday morning which is the highest number of infections since the pandemic has hit the country.
Besides, the coronavirus fatalities rose to 9,266 with 53 new deaths during the period. The mortality rate fell to 1.45 on Sunday from Saturday’s 1.46 percent.
Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Bangladesh has so far recorded 637,364 coronavirus cases, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later.
Countrywide lockdown
In an effort to prevent the transmission of Coronavirus and improve the current situation, the government has issued a gazette imposing restrictions on the movement of people and other activities for seven days from Monday.
The Cabinet Division issued the gazette on Sunday which will remain in force from 6 am on April 5 till 12 am on April 11.
Vaccination drive
The government launched a countrywide vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum in December last year for 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.