vaccination
Covid positivity rate in Bangladesh declines in a week: DGHS
Bangladesh has been witnessing a downward trend of Covid infection for a week, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Sunday.
"The Covid situation in the country is still not under control, but we see that the infection rate has been declining for a week," DGHS spokesperson Dr Md Nazmul Islam said at the daily briefing on pandemic situation.
The DGHS director said the infection rate was 21.50 per cent with detection of new 8,345 cases on February 6 which stood at 16.50 per cent with 5,023 cases on Saturday, at the end of the week.
Read: Follow health guidelines; new Omicron to be more contagious: DGHS
He said, "We have successfully run the vaccination campaign, which has resulted in a declining number of Covid-linked deaths and reducing the number of hospitalisation."
Dr Nazmul further said, "We have been trying to get used to this Covid situation for the last two years. If we can follow the highest level of precaution, death and infection rate must be decline."
People with Covid symptoms are receiving treatment being isolated at home on the advice of a doctor. Even all quarantine restrictions are effective all over the world including Bangladesh, Dr Nazmul added.
About reopening educational institutions, the DGHS spokesperson said the students can return to the class following the hygiene rules, if the situation is favourable.
A large number of students of school, college and university have been vaccinated so far, he added.
However, even if the educational institutions reopened, the health protocols have to be complied with, Dr Nazmul said, adding that those in charge of the educational institutions will make the students abide by Covid-safety rules.
Read:Omicron replacing Delta through community transmission: DGHS
Regarding vaccination, he vaccination of floating people in the capital city is under way. He could not specify any date when it can start for floating people across the country.
Since they do not live in a specific place, it is very challenging to vaccinate them together, he said.
Dr Nazmul urged all visitors, publishers, stall keepers to keep their vaccine certificate with them and follow the hygiene rules in the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, which is all set to kick off from Tuesday.
Mohibul says student vaccination makes progress; 64 % done
Nearly 64 percent students of the 12-18 age group got the first dose of Coronavirus vaccine, said Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury.
He said this while speaking in parliament taking part in the thanksgiving motion on the President's speech on Monday.
The Deputy Minister mentioned that the number of the students in the country is about 1,16,23,322. “And of them, 77.18 lakh received the first dose of the vaccine as of Sunday.”
READ: All students to be vaccinated by Jan 31: Dipu Moni
Mohibul said they have been able to vaccinate all the teachers at the university level and almost 100 percent have been completed.
It has been possible to vaccinate 90 percent of the students in public universities who are living in dormitories, he added.
READ: Govt school in Chandpur charging students Tk 50 per jab of vaccine!
Bagerhat's shining success in vaccinating students
Students in Bagerhat have raced ahead of most members of their cohorts in other parts of the country, when it comes to getting vaccinated against COVID-19. This has put them in a strong position to fully resume in-person schooling with pre-pandemic schedules ahead of most other districts, given the government's mandate that only the students who are vaccinated could attend schools.
Driven by this challenge, all the students aged 12-17 in 9 upazilas of Bagerhat, have successfully completed their first doses of the vaccine. They are now up for the second dose.
Already this week, long queues of students were seen forming during a visit to the Bagerhat Sadar Hospital - all belonging to the same group, lining up now for their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Read: All students to be vaccinated by Jan 31: Dipu Moni
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Azizur Rahman said, "We have successfully brought all students aged 12-17 under the vaccination programme. Now efforts are being made to bring all students aged above 18 under vaccination by January."
Bagerhat District Education Officer Kamruzzaman said that a list of students above 18 in the district have been made. According to it, in Bagerhat district there are 33,112 students above 18. Of them 29,531 got their first dose. Remaining 3,531 have registered through the app.
Both the parents and the teachers are happy that the district administration managed to bring all the students under vaccination. They have highly praised the efforts made to make the students aware of the importance of vaccinating.
Bagehat Civil Surgeon Dr Jalal Uddin said, our target was to vaccinate a total of 1,36,651 students aged 12-17 but we have administered the first dose vaccine to 1,41,308 students within this age range. This took the vaccination rate in the district to 103 per cent. The additional 4,657 students were dropouts.
Students received vaccines in 14 booths in 9 upazilas of the district; they came to the centers with enthusiasm and received the vaccines, Dr Jalal Uddin said.
So far, 11,669 students have received the second dose of vaccine, he added.
Bangladesh reports 6 more Covid-linked deaths with 277 cases
Bangladesh logged six more Covid-related deaths along with 277 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate declined to 1.35 per cent from Tuesday’s 1.45 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 28,016 while the caseload mounted to 15,78,288.
Read: Over 129 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India so far, says government
Among the latest deceased, four were men and two women. Three deaths were reported from Dhaka division while one each was from Chattogram, Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent during the period.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,644 samples, amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.78 per cent with the recovery of 296 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: Hasina places 5 proposals to deal with impacts on public health, nutrition
So far, 3,96,58,932 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 6,56,18,894 received the first dose as of Tuesday, according to the DGHS.
Among them, 1,65,072 students, aged from 12-17, have fully been vaccinated while 10,10,083 students received the first dose so far.
Covid-related death in Bangladesh drops to 1
Bangladesh logged one Covid-linked death along with 273 fresh cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate rose to 1.38 per cent from Monday’s 1.34 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Govt decides to administer Covid booster dose to above-60 citizens
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,981 while the caseload mounted to 15,76,284.
The latest deceased was a woman in her 60s and was from the Dhaka division.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 19,924 samples, the DGHS added.
Besides, the recovery rate increased to 97.76 per cent with the recovery of 368 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On November 20, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid-linked death with 178 cases.
Read: Omicron: What we know about the COVID-19 Variant so far
So far, 3,66,82,766 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 6,02,36,018 received the first dose as of Monday, according to the DGHS.
However, public health experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, disregard for Covid safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh -- a trend many European countries are witnessing now.
Zero death from Covid brings relief for Bangladesh
Confronting a tumultuous time since reporting its first death from Coronavirus on March 8, 2020 followed by the wrath unleashed by delta variant in 2021, Bangladesh finally reported zero death from the deadly virus in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The country, however, logged 178 more infections during the 24-hour period.
Bangladesh recorded its first Covid cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 of the last year.
The daily case positivity rate has declined to 1.18 per cent today from Friday’s 1.40 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Bangladesh bracing for third Covid wave?
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,946 while the caseload mounted to 1,573,889.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 15,107 samples, the DGHS added.
Besides, the recovery rate remained the same as 97.72 per cent with the recovery of 190 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Covid-19 Waves
On January 12 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City of Hubei Province in China.
On December 31, 2019, China reported to the WHO some cases of pneumonia with unknown causes.
Bangladesh was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic along with many other countries across the globe on March 8 last year when Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) reported the first three cases.
During mid-January to the first week of March, 2021 the infection rate remained below 5 and from the last week of March 2021, the infection and death toll gradually increased suggesting the start of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country.
US opens COVID boosters to all adults, urges them for 50+
The U.S. on Friday opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays.
Until now, Americans faced a confusing list of who was eligible for a booster that varied by age, their health and which kind of vaccine they got first. The Food and Drug Administration authorized changes to Pfizer and Moderna boosters to make it easier.
Under the new rules, anyone 18 or older can choose either a Pfizer or Moderna booster six months after their last dose. For anyone who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the wait already was just two months. And people can mix-and-match boosters from any company.
READ: Pfizer asks FDA to OK COVID-19 booster shots for all adults
“We heard loud and clear that people needed something simpler — and this, I think, is simple,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told The Associated Press.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to agree before the new policy became official late Friday. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky endorsed a recommendation from her agency's scientific advisers that — in addition to offering all adults a booster — had stressed that people 50 and older should be urged to get one.
“It’s a stronger recommendation,” said CDC adviser Dr. Matthew Daley of Kaiser Permanente Colorado. “I want to make sure we provide as much protection as we can.”
The CDC also put out a plea for those who had previously qualified but hadn't yet signed up for a booster to quit putting it off — saying older Americans and people with risks such as obesity, diabetes or other health problems should try to get one before the holidays.
The expansion makes tens of millions more Americans eligible for an extra dose of protection.
The No. 1 priority for the U.S., and the world, still is to get more unvaccinated people their first doses. All three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. continue to offer strong protection against severe illness, including hospitalization and death, without a booster.
But protection against infection can wane with time, and the U.S. and many countries in Europe also are grappling with how widely to recommend boosters as they fight a winter wave of new cases. In the U.S., COVID-19 diagnoses have climbed steadily over the last three weeks, especially in states where colder weather already has driven people indoors.
And about a dozen states didn't wait for federal officials to act before opening boosters to all adults.
“The direction is not a good one. People are going inside more and, ‘oops,’ next week happens to be the largest travel week of the year, so it probably makes sense to do whatever we can here to try to turn the tide,” Marks told the AP.
READ: Are COVID-19 boosters the same as the original vaccines?
Vaccinations began in the U.S. last December, about a year after the coronavirus first emerged. More than 195 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, defined as having received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose J&J. More than 32 million already have received a booster, a large proportion — 17 million — people 65 or older. Experts say that's reassuring as seniors are at particularly high risk from COVID-19 and were among the first in line for initial vaccinations
Teen boosters aren't yet under discussion, and kid-sized doses of Pfizer's vaccine are just now rolling out to children ages 5 to 11.
The Biden administration had originally planned on boosters for all adults but until now, U.S. health authorities — backed by their scientific advisers — had questioned the need for such a widespread campaign. Instead, they first endorsed Pfizer or Moderna boosters only for vulnerable groups such as older Americans or those at high risk of COVID-19 because of health problems, their jobs or their living conditions.
This time around, the experts agreed the overall benefits of added protection from a third dose for any adult — six months after their last shot — outweighed risks of rare side effects from Moderna's or Pfizer's vaccine, such as a type of heart inflammation seen mostly in young men.
Several other countries have discouraged use of the Moderna vaccine in young people because of that concern, citing data suggesting the rare side effect may occur slightly more with that vaccine than its competitor.
Pfizer told CDC's advisers that in a booster study of 10,000 people as young as 16, there were no more serious side effects from a third vaccine dose than earlier ones. That study found a booster restored protection against symptomatic infections to about 95% even while the extra-contagious delta variant was surging.
Britain recently released real-world data showing the same jump in protection once it began offering boosters to middle-aged and older adults, and Israel has credited widespread boosters for helping to beat back another wave of the virus.
While the vaccines spur immune memory that protects against severe disease, protection against infection depends on levels of virus-fighting antibodies that wane with time. No one yet knows how long antibody levels will stay high after a booster.
But even a temporary boost in protection against infection may help over the winter and holidays, said CDC's Dr. Sara Oliver.
Some experts worry that all the attention to boosters may harm efforts to reach the 47 million U.S. adults who remain unvaccinated. There’s also growing concern that rich countries are offering widespread boosters when poor countries haven’t been able to vaccinate more than a small fraction of their populations.
“In terms of the No. 1 priority for reducing transmission in this country and throughout the world, this remains getting people their first vaccine series,” said Dr. David Dowdy of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Health rules to be maintained till 100 percent vaccination achieved: DGHS
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has said Covid-19 infection in the country is decreasing but health guidelines will be maintained till 100 percent of the population gets vaccinated.
DGHS spokesperson and Director (disease control) Dr Nazmul Islam said this Sunday during the regular health bulletin of the directorate on Covid infection situation in the country.
“Declining infection rate is a hopeful sign but there is no reason to feel complacency,” he said.
In the last seven days 126,840 samples have been tested for Covid-19 which is 12 percent lower than the previous seven days, he said.
Dr Nazmul said, the number of new infections has decreased 32 percent in the last seven days from the previous week, meanwhile the number of fatalities has decreased 21 percent.
Read: 50% of vaccination target can be met by December: Health Minister
In the last seven days daily infection rate mostly remained below 2 percent except on October 19 when 2.20 percent infection rate was reported, he added.
“Overall the infection rate is showing a downtrend for a month which is still continuing ," said the DGHS spokesperson.
Since January this year most of the infections were logged in July and August while the country saw 336,226 and 223,480 cases respectively, he said.
“Compared to that, just 11,506 cases reported so far in October is quite an improvement”, said the DGHS official.
Read: Prioritize senior people in vaccination, not children: Experts
Number of patients in Covid dedicated hospitals have declined and people are seeking telemedicine services less now, he said.
Replying to a question he said Bangladesh cannot be considered Covid-free yet as every day new patients are being detected.
In the last week of the current month or at the beginning of next month they will be able to inform the total number of school going students who have registered for Covid-19 vaccine, said the DGHS director.
50% of vaccination target can be met by December: Health Minister
Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Wednesday that 50 per cent of the vaccination target can be achieved by December this year as Covid-19 jabs are arriving in the country as planned.
"We have already proven that it is possible to give 80 lakh doses of vaccine in a day if the health sector wants. So from now on, if three crore doses of vaccine arrive in the country every month as per the demand, we will be able to give them to the people," said the minister.
The minister stated this at a meeting on healthcare and development issues of the country organised by UHFPO, an organisation of Upazila Health Officers, at Hotel Intercontinental in the capital.
The minister said the country has also started inoculating school-going students between the ages of 12 and18 and gradually all the people of the country will be vaccinated.
The minister said even though Bangladesh itself has not produced any vaccine yet, the country now has almost all types of vaccines produced in the world.
Read: Japan to provide more vaccine doses through COVAX in Nov
"From now on, at least three crore doses of vaccine will come to the country every month," Zahid said. He also mentioned that the shipment of Chinese Sinopharm vaccines continues as per the agreement.
More vaccines have begun to arrive as per the agreement through the World Health Organization. Serum Institute of India has also started the export of Covishield vaccine.
Other vaccines including Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca under the COVAX facility have started to arrive in the country.
Referring to the opposition's criticism of the country's health sector, the health minister said that his ministry successfully dealt with dengue along with combating Covid-19. This has been appreciated internationally.
Besides, Bangladesh has ranked 26th in the world in tackling Covid pandemic in a recent survey conducted by Nippon in Japan, including Bloomberg and the World Health Organization, he said.
Prof ABM Khurshid Alam, Director General of Department of Health, Ebadul Karim MP, Managing Director of Beacon Pharmaceuticals, and Lokman Hossain Mia, Senior Secretary of Department of Health Services, were present among others at the meeting.
Trial run for school vaccination to begin Thursday with 100 Manikganj students
At least 100 students of two government schools in Manikganj will get Covid jabs on Thursday as part of the government's decision to conduct a test run for Covid-19 vaccination for school students.
Confirming the information, Md. Lutfar Rahman, the Civil Surgeon of the district said that the Health Minister Zahid Malek will inaugurate the program at Manikganj Colonel Malek Medical College at 12 noon on Thursday.
“Fifty students of Manikganj Government Boys High School and 50 students of SK Government Girls High School will be vaccinated with Pfizer during this time,”he added.
Read: Vaccination campaign for school students to begin within a week: DGHS chief
They will be monitored after inoculation and from next week more students will be brought under the vaccination campaign.
The district has already received 27,000 Pfizer vaccines for school goers .
Earlier on Tuesday, DGHS chief ABM Khurshid Alam informed that a new campaign to vaccinate school students aged 12 and above will start within a week.
Read: WHO okays vaccination of those below 18 in Bangladesh: Health Minister
“The inoculation drive for school children between the ages of 12 and 17 will start this week,” said the DG of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) while talking to reporters following an event at the health department.
He said 21 centres have been selected at the district and city corporation levels across the country for this purpose.
“The Pfizer vaccine will be used for children,” he said, adding, “School authorities will provide us with the lists of their students. We’ll pass that onto the Surokkha app server afterwards.”