Vaccine
Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 3 more deaths with 243 cases
Bangladesh logged three more Covid-linked deaths along with 243 fresh cases in 24 hours till Friday morning.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate increased to 1.40 per cent from Thursday’s 1.24 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: India reports first two Covid cases of Omicron variant
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,989 while the caseload mounted to 15,77,070.
Among the latest deceased, two were men and another another a woman. Two deaths were reported from Dhaka while another one was from Khulna divisions.
However, the mortality rate declined to 1.77 per cent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 17,473 samples, amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.77 per cent with the recovery of 225 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On November 20, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid-linked death with 178 cases.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 2 more deaths; positivity rate rises to 1.5%
So far, 3,75,67,876 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 6,37,71,795 received the first dose as of Thursday, according to the DGHS.
Among them, 5,90,19 students, aged from 12-17, have fully been vaccinated while 8,74,213 students received the first dose so far.
Omicron brings COVID-19 vaccine inequity 'home to roost'
The emergence of the new omicron variant and the world's desperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are reminders of what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thrive as long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines.The hoarding of limited COVID-19 shots by rich countries — creating virtual vaccine deserts in many poorer ones — doesn’t just mean risk for the parts of the world seeing shortages; it threatens the entire globe.That's because the more the disease spreads among unvaccinated populations, the more possibilities it has to mutate and potentially become more dangerous, prolonging the pandemic for everyone.
READ: Wary, weary world slams doors shut, fearing omicron variant
“The virus is a ruthless opportunist, and the inequity that has characterized the global response has now come home to roost,” said Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, one of the groups behind the U.N.-backed COVAX shot-sharing initiative.Perhaps nowhere is the inequality more evident than in Africa, where under 7% of the population is vaccinated. South African scientists alerted the World Health Organization to the new omicron variant last week, though it may never be clear where it first originated. Researchers are now rushing to determine whether it is more infectious or able to evade current vaccines.COVAX was supposed to avoid such inequality — but instead the initiative is woefully short of shots and has already abandoned its initial goal of 2 billion doses.Even to reach its scaled-back target of distributing 1.4 billion doses by the end of 2021, it must ship more than 25 million doses every day. Instead, it has averaged just over 4 million a day since the beginning of October, with some days dipping below 1 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of the shipments.Shipments in recent days have ramped up, but nowhere near the amount needed.Meanwhile, richer nations often have a glut of shots, and many are now offering boosters — something the WHO has discouraged because every booster is essentially a dose that is not going to someone who's never even gotten their first shot. Despite the U.N. health agency's appeal to countries to declare a moratorium on booster shots until the end of the year, more than 60 countries are now administering them.
READ: Omicron: DGHS recommends enforcement of 15 instructions
“What it highlights are the continuing and fundamental risks to everyone associated with not seriously addressing the inequalities still at play globally in the fight against disease and poor health," said Dr. Osman Dar, director of the One Health Project at the Chatham House think tank.Anna Marriott, health policy manager for Oxfam, said COVAX was limited from the outset after being pushed to the back of the vaccine queue by rich countries.“The COVAX team may be delivering as fast as they can, but they can’t deliver vaccines they haven’t got,” Marriott said.Just 13% of vaccines COVAX contracted for and 12% of promised donations have actually been delivered, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund from mid-November. About a third of the vaccines dispensed by COVAX have been donations, according to the vaccine alliance known as Gavi, and the initiative is now partly a clearinghouse for those donated doses, the very situation it was set up to avoid.Last week, COVAX sent out a news release praising a European Union pledge to ship 100 million vaccines to Africa by the end of the year — but only 1/20 of that amount was actually on planes.Asked about the logistical challenges of distributing the other 94 million doses in only six weeks, Aurelia Nguyen, managing director of COVAX maintained that arrangements “are in place to move a vast number of doses between now and the end of the year."In a statement, she said the issue was ensuring that “conditions are right on the ground for doses to be administered.”In minutes released ahead of an executive meeting this week, Gavi fretted that the perception that rich countries are dumping older or lesser vaccines on poor countries could undermine the whole project. On Monday, in a joint statement with WHO and the African Union among others, it admonished that “the majority of the donations to date have been ad hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives.”Fury over dose dumping is already very real. In Malawi and South Sudan, tens of thousands of out-of-date doses were destroyed.But it's not just getting the vaccines into poorer countries that's a problem, according to some experts. COVAX is “falling short on getting vaccines from the (airport) tarmac into people’s arms,” said Dr. Angela Wakhweya, senior director for health equity and rights at CARE.Authorities in Congo, for instance, returned their entire COVAX shipment this summer when they realized they would not be able to administer doses before they expired.In a “risk management” report on COVAX, Gavi warned that “poor absorption” of vaccines by developing countries could lead to “wastage” of some doses. One problem is logistics — just getting the doses in the right country at the right time. But just as important is the ability of often underfunded national health systems to distribute the shots where they're most needed, along with syringes and other necessary gear. A third issue is persuading sometimes hesitant people to get the vaccines.World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, however, has disputed distribution is a problem, saying the only obstacle to immunization in poor countries is supply.Most COVAX doses distributed so far have been AstraZeneca’s vaccine, a shot that has yet to be authorized in the U.S. and whose botched rollout in Europe helped fuel anti-vaccine sentiment when the vaccine was linked to rare blood clots. The vaccines mostly used in the U.S. and much of Europe — made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — have only been available in tiny amounts via COVAX.The U.S., which blocked vaccine sales overseas and exports of key ingredients for months, has donated 275 million doses in all, more than any other country but still less than a third of what the Biden administration pledged. The European Union, which has in general allowed vaccines manufactured in the bloc to be sold anywhere in the world, has actually delivered about a third of its 400 million promised doses.Efforts to ramp up global production beyond a select group of manufacturers have stalled, which many activists and scientists blame on pharmaceutical companies' opposition to waive intellectual property rights for the highly lucrative vaccines.Given that the pandemic has so far not devastated Africa as many had initially feared, some scientists on the continent are now discussing whether to withdraw their vaccine requests.“I think what Africa could do to really shame the world is to stop asking for vaccines,” said Christian Happi, a Nigerian virologist who sat on the scientific advisory board of CEPI. “The vaccines have not arrived, and anyways it may turn out that we don’t need them as much as the West.”
To boost or not? Experts decry the third Covid shot debate
As the global debate over Covid booster shots gathers steam in wealthier countries, public health experts in Bangladesh contend it is still "premature" to roll out the third dose in this country.
They say that available vaccines would be better used to inoculate the unvaccinated -- not to mention that a large swath of the population in Bangladesh is yet to get the first shot.
Though some wealthier countries have already started administering the booster shots, the experts say there is no credible scientific evidence, except some sponsored studies, so far to support the need for the same.
Instead they urge the government to strengthen the ongoing vaccination drive and increase its coverage to ensure that at least 80 percent of the eligible population are inoculated with the first shot at the earliest.
Read: Resource for journalists around the world on COVID-19 vaccines
Some say the world may get very effective oral medicines to defeat the deadly virus in a couple of years.
Poland hands over token vaccine doses under 3.2-mn AZ donation
The Polish government has provided 3.2 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Bangladesh expressing solidarity to the friendly country’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof Adam Burakowski, the Ambassador of Poland to Bangladesh (resident in New Delhi), handed over the token vaccine doses to Bangladesh side at a ceremony held at state guesthouse Padma on Wednesday.
Read: Pfizer asks FDA to OK COVID-19 booster shots for all adults
Lokman Hussain Mia, Senior Secretary of Health Services Division under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh and Rear Admiral (retd) Md Khurshed Alam, Secretary, MAU and acting Foreign Secretary, received the gifts from the Ambassador at the Padma State Guest House a simple ceremony.
The Polish gesture covers a consignment containing 3272, 880 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine (Oxford AstraZeneca) as well as their transport to Dhaka through their own arrangement.
Due to the size, the consignment is being sent in three batches.
The first batch (1027,290 doses of vaccine) arrived on Wednesday and the second batch (920,790 doses of vaccine) will arrive on Thursday.
The third one (1324,800 doses of vaccine) will arrive on November 14.
Read: France to donate 2mn doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh: FM
The Polish Ambassador said the Covid vaccines are a donation to the government of Bangladesh by the government of Poland as a gesture of friendship to Bangladesh.
He expressed the hope that both the countries would soon be able to overcome the pandemic through shared efforts.
The acting Foreign Secretary thanked the government of Poland for standing by Bangladesh and mentioned that the friendly gesture would further strengthen the existing bilateral relationship between the friendly countries.
He also appreciated the support of Poland in such a time when the government of Bangladesh planned to inoculate its population.
The handing over ceremony was followed by lunch hosted by the acting Foreign Secretary.
12 crore vaccine doses to be administered by January: Health Minister
Bangladesh will administer at least 12 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines by next January, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday.
The minister said "There is no shortage of vaccines in the country. There are over one crore vaccines in stock. All the people of the country can be vaccinated as per the instructions of the prime minister."
The minister made this remark while inaugurating DBL Pharmaceuticals at Gazipur on Sunday.
READ: DU to collaborate with AFC Biotech to develop Covid-19 vaccine
Zahid said the government has bought 21 crore doses of vaccine. From there, at least three crore doses of vaccine will arrive this month. Same number of doses are expected to next month.
At least seven crore doses of the vaccine have already been administered. If this continues, it will be possible to administer at least 12 crore doses of vaccine by January next year. "If that is done, it will be possible to reduce the death rate from Covid-19 to zero," said the minister.
The minister also claimed there has been no shortage of medicines throughout the Covid-19 pandemic across the country. These medicines were also sufficiently available at the village level.
Bangladesh also exports medicines after meeting 98 per cent of the domestic demand, the minister added.
"Pharmaceuticals are going to be one of the biggest sources of foreign exchange in the country, after the RMG sector. However, we are going to form a new drug policy to ensure that there are no adulterated drugs in the country," said the minister.
He further said no one will be able to increase the drug price in the country's market unnecessarily because of the new policy.
READ: No shortage of vaccines in Bangladesh: FM
The minister also visited different parts of the drug company on the inaugural event accompanied by the member of the Parliament Dr Habib E Millat, Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) Maj Gen Mahbubur Rahman and DBL Pharmaceuticals Chairman Abdul Wahed.
Appeals court stays vaccine mandate on larger businesses
A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily halted the Biden administration’s vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the action stops President Joe Biden “from moving forward with his unlawful overreach.”
“The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the constitution,” said a statement from Landry, a Republican.
Read: Pfizer's request to OK shots for kids a relief for parents
The U.S. Labor Department’s top legal adviser, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, said the department is “confident in its legal authority to issue the emergency temporary standard on vaccination and testing.”
OSHA has the authority “to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them,” she said.
A spokesman for the Justice Department, Anthony Coley, said in a statement: “The OSHA emergency temporary standard is a critical tool to keep America’s workplaces safe as we fight our way out of this pandemic. The Justice Department will vigorously defend this rule in court.”
Such circuit decisions normally apply to states within a district — Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in this case — but Landry said the language employed by the judges gave the decision a national scope.
Read: World could return to normal within a year: Pfizer CEO
“This is a great victory for the American people out there. Never before has the federal government tried in a such a forceful way to get between the choices of an American citizen and their doctor. To me that’s the heart of the entire issue,” he said.
At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of President Donald Trump.
The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the United States.
The administration says it is confident that the requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges in part because its safety rules preempt state laws.
The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, said it was delaying the federal vaccine requirement because of potential “grave statutory and constitutional issues” raised by the plaintiffs. The government must provide an expedited reply to the motion for a permanent injunction Monday, followed by petitioners’ reply on Tuesday.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and director of the World Health Organization’s center on global health law, said it was troubling that a federal appeals court would stop or delay safety rules in a health crisis, saying no one has a right to go into a workplace “unmasked, unvaxxed and untested.”
“Unelected judges that have no scientific experience shouldn’t be second-guessing health and safety professionals at OSHA,” he said.
US mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by Jan. 4
Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday.
The new requirements are the Biden administration’s boldest move yet to persuade reluctant Americans to finally get a vaccine that has been widely available for months — or face financial consequences. If successful, administration officials believe it will go a long way toward ending a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 Americans.
First previewed by President Joe Biden in September, the requirements will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace.
OSHA left open the possibility of expanding the requirement to smaller businesses. It asked for public comment on whether employers with fewer than 100 employees could handle vaccination or testing programs.
Read: Pfizer's request to OK shots for kids a relief for parents
Tougher rules will apply to another 17 million people working in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid. Those workers will not have an option for testing — they will need to be vaccinated.
Workers will be able to ask for exemptions on medical or religious grounds.
The requirements will not apply to people who work at home or outdoors.
Biden framed the issue as a simple choice between getting more people vaccinated or prolonging the pandemic.
“While I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” he said Thursday in a statement.
Biden said his encouragement for businesses to impose mandates and his own previous requirements for the military and federal contractors have helped reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans over 12 from 100 million in late July to about 60 million now.
Those measures, he said, have not led to mass firings or worker shortages, adding that vaccines have been required before to fight other diseases.
OSHA said companies that fail to comply with the regulations could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.
Read: World could return to normal within a year: Pfizer CEO
The agency will face enforcement challenges. Even counting help from states, OSHA has only 1,850 inspectors to oversee 130 million workers at 8 million workplaces. An administration official said the agency will respond to whistleblower complaints and make limited spot checks.
The release of the rules followed weeks of regulatory review and meetings with business groups, labor unions and others.
OSHA drafted the rules under emergency authority meant to protect workers from an imminent health hazard. The agency estimated that the vaccine mandate will save more than 6,500 worker lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations over the next six months.
The rules set up potential legal battles along partisan lines between states and the federal government. Several states and Republican governors threatened to sue, contending that the administration lacks the power to make such sweeping mandates under emergency authority.
OSHA’s parent agency, the Labor Department, says it is on sound legal footing. The department’s top legal official, Seema Nanda, said OSHA rules preempt conflicting state laws or orders, including those that bar employers from requiring vaccinations, testing or face masks.
Senate Republicans immediately launched a petition to force a vote to overturn the vaccine mandate, but with Democrats controlling the chamber, the effort is nearly certain to fail.
The rules will require workers to receive either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly. Employees testing positive must be removed from the workplace.
Companies won’t be required to provide or pay for tests for unvaccinated workers, but they must give paid time off for employees to get the shots and sick leave to recover from side effects that prevent them from working. Requirements for masks and paid time off for shots take effect Dec. 5.
Employers covered by the requirements must verify their workers’ vaccination status by checking documents such as CDC vaccination cards, records from doctors or pharmacies, or even an employee’s own signed declaration.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a separate rule requiring vaccination for workers in 76,000 health facilities and home health care providers that get funding from the government health programs. A senior administration official said several large private health care organizations imposed their own mandates and achieved high vaccination rates — 96% or higher — without widespread resignations.
A previously announced requirement for federal contractors to make sure workers are vaccinated was scheduled to take effect Dec. 8, but the administration delayed that measure until Jan. 4 to match the requirements on other large employers and health care providers. Already, more than a dozen states have sued to block the mandate on contractors.
For weeks, Biden has encouraged businesses not to wait for OSHA to act. He has touted businesses that announced their own vaccine requirements and urged others to follow their lead.
Administration officials say those efforts are paying off, with about 70% of adults fully vaccinated.
Workplace vaccine mandates have become more common recently, with hospitals, state and local governments and some major corporations requiring COVID-19 shots for employees. The mandates have led to overwhelming compliance — in some cases 99% of workers — although a small but vocal number have faced dismissal, filed lawsuits or sought exemptions.
United Airlines required 67,000 U.S. employees to get vaccinated or face termination. Only a couple hundred refused to do so, although about 2,000 are seeking exemptions.
In August, Tyson Foods told its 120,000 U.S. workers that they must be vaccinated by Nov. 1. On Thursday, the company said more than 96% of its workforce was vaccinated, including 60,500 people who got their shots after the August announcement.
Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, said in late July it was requiring all workers at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and managers who travel within the United States to be vaccinated by Oct. 4. The retailer stopped short of requiring shots for front-line workers, however.
However, some companies have expressed fear that some vaccine-hesitant workers might quit, leaving their workforces even thinner in an already-tight labor market.
Several corporate groups, including the Business Roundtable, endorsed the mandate. However, retail groups worried that the requirement could disrupt their operations during the critical Christmas shopping period. Retailers and others also said it could worsen supply chain disruptions.
The National Retail Federation suggested the new rules are not needed because the rolling average number of new daily cases in the U.S. has fallen by more than half since September.
“Nevertheless, the Biden administration has chosen to declare an ‘emergency’ and impose burdensome new requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season,” said David French, a senior vice president for the trade group.
The number of new infections in the U.S. is still falling from a summer surge caused by the highly contagious delta variant, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent weeks. The 7-day moving average is down 6% from two weeks ago, at more than 76,000 new cases and 1,200 deaths per day.
Cole Stevenson, a 34-year-old autoworker at the Ford Rouge truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, said he remains uncomfortable with a vaccine that was developed just a year ago.
He intends to get weekly COVID-19 tests and says he won’t reconsider getting the vaccine even if the tests are a financial or logistical burden.
“It’s getting pretty disgusting how much the government thinks they can be involved in people’s lives,” he said. “If the whole thing is sort of cooling down and cases are lowering, then buzz off — don’t force it on people.”
White House details plans to vaccinate 28M children age 5-11
Children ages 5 to 11 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 shot at their pediatrician’s office, local pharmacy and potentially even their school, the White House said Wednesday as it detailed plans for the expected authorization of the Pfizer shot for elementary school youngsters in a matter of weeks.
Federal regulators will meet over the next two weeks to weigh the safety and effectiveness of giving low-dose shots to the roughly 28 million children in that age group.
Within hours of formal approval, which is expected after the Food and Drug Administration signs off and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel meets on Nov. 2-3, millions of doses will begin going out to providers across the country, along with the smaller needles needed for injecting young children.
Within days of that, the vaccine will be ready to go into arms on a wide scale.
“We’re completing the operational planning to ensure vaccinations for kids ages 5 to 11 are available, easy and convenient,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said. “We’re going to be ready, pending the FDA and CDC decision.”
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses three weeks apart and a two-week wait for full protection to kick in, meaning the first youngsters in line will be fully covered by Christmas.
Read: Moderna has no plans to share its COVID-19 vaccine recipe
Some parents can hardly wait.
Dr. Sterling Ransone said his rural Deltaville, Virginia, office is already getting calls from people asking for appointments for their children and saying, “I want my shot now.”
“Judging by the number of calls, I think we’re going to be slammed for the first several weeks,” said Ransone, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Justin Shady, a film and TV writer in Chicago, said his 6-year-old daughter, Grey, got nervous when he told her she would be getting the shots soon. But he is bribing her with a trip to Disney World, and “she’s all in.”
The family likes to travel, “we really just want to get back in the swing of seeing the world,” Shady said.
Also read: Covid vaccine: India's Covaxin gets emergency use approval for kids aged 2-18
As for youngsters under 5, Pfizer and Moderna are studying their vaccines in children down to 6 months old, with results expected later in the year.
The Biden administration noted that the expansion of shots to children under 12 will not look like the start of the country’s vaccine rollout 10 months ago, when limited doses and inadequate capacity meant a painstaking wait for many Americans.
The country now has ample supplies of the Pfizer shot to vaccinate the children who will soon be eligible, officials said, and they have been working for months to ensure widespread availability of shots. About 15 million doses will be shipped to providers across the U.S. in the first week after approval, the White House said.
More than 25,000 pediatricians and primary care providers have already signed on to dispense the vaccine to elementary school children, the White House said, in addition to the tens of thousands of drugstores that are already administering shots to adults.
Hundreds of school- and community-based clinics will also be funded and supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help speed the process.
In addition to doctors’ offices, schools are likely be popular spots for the shots.
In Maryland, state officials have offered to help schools set up vaccination clinics. Denver’s public schools plan to hold mass vaccination events for young children, along with smaller clinics offering shots during the school day and in the evenings. Chicago’s public health department is working closely with schools, which have already been hosting vaccination events for students age 12 and older and their families.
The White House is also preparing a stepped-up campaign to educate parents and children about the safety of the shots and the ease of getting them. As has been the case for adult vaccinations, the administration believes trusted messengers — educators, doctors and community leaders — will be vital to encouraging vaccinations.
Dr. Lisa Reed, medical director for family medicine at MAHEC, a western North Carolina safety net provider that serves patients from rural Appalachia and more urban communities such as the tourist town of Asheville, said it is going to take effort to get some families on board.
Reed said she lives “in a community that has a lot of vaccine hesitancy, unfortunately.”
“Some have lower health literacy or belong to ethnic groups that are more hesitant in general” because of a history of mistrust, she said. And Asheville, she said, has a sizeable population of well-educated adults who are longtime vaccine skeptics.
While children run a lower risk than older people of getting seriously ill from COVID-19, at least 637 people age 18 or under have died from the virus in the U.S., according to the CDC. Six million U.S. children been infected, 1 million of them since early September amid the spread of the more contagious delta variant, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
Health officials believe that expanding the vaccine drive will not only curb the alarming number of infections in children but also reduce the spread of the virus to vulnerable adults. It could also help schools stay open and youngsters get back on track academically, and contribute to the nation’s broader recovery from the pandemic.
“COVID has also disrupted our kids’ lives. It’s made school harder, it’s disrupted their ability to see friends and family, it’s made youth sports more challenging,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told NBC. “Getting our kids vaccinated, we have the prospect of protecting them, but also getting all of those activities back that are so important to our children.”
Murthy said the administration, which is imposing vaccine mandates for millions of adults, is leaving it up to state and local officials to decide whether to require schoolchildren to get vaccinated. But he said such measures would be “a reasonable thing to consider.”
“It’s also consistent with what we’ve done for other childhood vaccines, like measles, mumps, polio,” he said.
The U.S. has purchased 65 million doses of the Pfizer pediatric shot, which is expected to be one-third the dose given to adults and adolescents, according to officials. They will be shipped in smaller packages of about 100 doses each, so that more providers can deliver them, and they won’t require the super-cold storage that the adult version did at first.
About 219 million Americans age 12 and up, or 66% of the total population, have received a COVID-19 shot, and nearly 190 million are fully vaccinated.
Bangladesh receives 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine
Bangladesh on Tuesday received 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine as a gift from the Chinese government.
This is the fifth batch of gifted Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Chinese Government to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh received four batches of gifted Chinese Sinopharm vaccine doses in May, June, and August of 2021.
Mosquirix: WHO Recommends World's First Malaria Vaccine RTS,S
Mosquito-borne disease malaria is responsible for around 435,000 deaths per year, and 80-90% of those deaths occur in rural sub-Saharan Africa. However, there was no vaccine until a few years back to prevent this disease. Finally, after 100 years of effort, a vaccine has become a beacon of hope. The World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed a vaccine to fight malaria on October 6, 2021. After conducting pilot vaccination programs in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, the WHO said it could now be used in children's bodies to prevent moderate to high levels of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions.
Six years ago, Mosquirix based 'RTS, S' proved to be effective and getting endorsed from WHO is considered a historic event.
What is Mosquirix Vaccine?
Mosquirix is a malaria vaccine for children aged 6 weeks to 17 months. Additionally, it can also protect against liver infection due to the hepatitis B virus. However, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) suggests not using the vaccine solely for liver infection purposes.
Read Covid-19 threatens global progress against malaria: WHO
GlaxoSmithKline or GSK invented the vaccine back in 1987. But, they went through many development processes, and today's outcome took more than three decades. However, since the invention Mosquirix has faced some challenges as the protection faded after a few months and required up to four doses.
The European Medicine Agency approved this in 2015. In one experiment, Mosquirix was found 30% effective when applied 4 times to children.
The World Health Organization has set a target of vaccinating 360,000 children each year in three countries. GSK and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have funded about $750 million for the vaccine. Currently, the company is providing 1 crore vaccines free of cost in the ongoing project. Later, they are planning to recoup the money invested through large-scale projects.
Read: UN endorses world's 1st malaria vaccine as 'historic moment'
Since 2019, around 2.3 million doses have been applied to infants in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi on a large scale, which was coordinated by the WHO.
Usage of Mosquirix
A 0.5 ml Mosquirix injection is given into the muscle around the shoulder or in the muscle of the thigh. The child will need to take three injections in three months with one month gap between each dose. Further, a fourth dose is also necessary after 18 months of the third dose. However, a prescription is required to get the vaccine.
How does Mosquirix RTS, S work?
According to the European Medicines Agency's researchers, the active substance in Mosquirix is basically made up of proteins found on the Plasmodium falciparum parasites' surface. When it enters into the body, the immune system takes it as a foreign protein and eventually builds antibodies against them.
What does RTS,S stand for?
RTS,S is mainly the scientific name of the malaria vaccine candidate. The 'R' means the "central repeat region of Plasmodium (P.) falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP)." The 'T' stands for the T-cell epitopes of the CSP, and the 'S' stands for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).
Read Trump's use of malaria drug likely to be welcomed in India