Vaccination drive
Global Covid cases near 205 million
The overall number of global Covid cases is fast approaching the 205-million mark as several countries continue their battle against the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus even with mass inoculations underway.
According to US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 204,626,055 while the death toll from the virus reached 4,322,964 on Thursday morning.
So far, 4,527,785,425 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
Read: US Hospitals run low on nurses as they get swamped with COVID
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 36,177,914 cases. Besides, 618,434 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data.
Brazil, which has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India, recorded 565,748 deaths and 20,245,085 cases, respectively, on Wednesday.
Neighbouring India's total Covid cases surpassed 32 million on Wednesday, with 38,353 new infections reported in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry's data.
Besides, 497 deaths were recorded since Tuesday morning, taking the death toll to 429,179.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Wednesday reported 237 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours, a figure that shows how bad the situation is in the country.
Read:Covid kills 237 more in Bangladesh as Delta strain raging
On August 5, the country reported 264 deaths shattering its previous single-day record of 258 Covid-related fatalities on July 27. On August 10 too, the country logged 268 deaths.
Besides, 10,420 more people came out Covid positive during the period after testing 44,430 samples, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Chaos at vaccination centres
Vaccination centres across the country drew huge crowds on the fifth day of the mass vaccination drive, creating a chaotic situation everywhere and raising the risk of the virus transmission.
Hundreds of jab-seekers, both male and female, turned up at small vaccination centres with or without online registrations, overwhelming its medical staff.
Read:1.77 mln doses of Sinopharm vaccine on way to Dhaka
On Saturday, Bangladesh kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drive aimed at vaccinating 35 lakh people in six days.
Covid jabs will be administered simultaneously in 4,600 unions, 1,054 municipality areas and 433 wards of the city corporations, Director General of Health Services Dr ABM Khurshid Alam told the media on August 6.
Vaccine Stock
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, at a virtual meeting on Wednesday, said, “We’ve to vaccinate some 13.82 crore people of the country. We need to buy a total of 27.65 crore vaccine doses. We have 2.55 crore vaccine doses in our hands and the remaining ones need to be collected.”
Frustration grows as chaos continues at Bangladesh’s vaccination centres
Vaccination centres across the country drew huge crowds on the 5th day of the mass vaccination drive, creating a chaotic situation everywhere and raising the risk of the virus transmission.
After a reality check at different vaccination centers, UNB correspondents saw long queues of people standing close to each other with little or no regard to social distancing rules.
Hundreds of jab-seekers, both male and female, turned up at the small vaccination centres with or without online registrations, overwhelming its medical staff.
The medical staff at the vaccination centres and the vaccine aspirants pointed fingers at each other because of mismanagement and slow pace of vaccination.
According to the UNB correspondents, the number of staff was too inadequate to smoothly vaccinate such a huge number of people.
As the ruthless Delta variant of Covid-19 keeps spreading like wildfire, Bangladesh on Saturday kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating 35 lakh people in six days.
However, the drive has not been free of controversies as mismanagement and anomalies across the country became a topic of discussions in the last few days.
Even on the very first day of the drive, UNB reported about the chaotic situation which arose at the city’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.
Nearly 4,000 vaccine seekers, including men and women, were seen waiting in queues in the corridors of its first and second floors with the vaccination going on at a snail’s pace.
Read: Covid kills 237 more in Bangladesh as Delta strain takes hold
Outraged by the “mismanagement”, the vaccine seekers said the situation turned worse as there was no arrangement for women to stand in any separate queue.
Tired of the long wait in the queue, the irate crowds got involved in quarrels with Ansar personnel and the hospital staff.
Some of them were seen trying to push each other to enter the vaccination rooms venting their anger amid chaos.
Inside the vaccination rooms, it was found that only two to three nurses were providing shots while another two or three medical staff were checking vaccination registration papers. They had to struggle a lot to cope with the situation for lack of manpower.
Unable to get jab, man thrashes health centre staff
Unable to get the Covid-19 vaccine, a 32-year-old man allegedly thrashed the storekeeper of Atpara Upazila Health Complex in Netrokona on Tuesday.
Nurul Amin, the son of Gias Uddin Ahmed of Mobarakpur village in Atpara upazila, has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
Read: Khulna man gets 2 doses of vaccine in one minute
Upazila Health Complex sources said that the vaccination drive began at the centre on Tuesday morning but it ran out of Covid jabs by noon.
When Mirza Ataur Rahman Jewel, the storekeeper of the hospital, came out and announced the same to people who were in the queue to get the jab, Nurul got agitated and attacked him.
On information, police rushed to the spot and arrested Nurul.
Read: Mission Inoculation: Military chopper takes jabs to remote Rangamati hills
Md Zafar Iqbal, officer-in-charge of Atpara Police Station, said a case was filed against Nurul in this regard. "He will be produced in a court on Wednesday," he said.
Global Covid cases near 204 million
The global Covid-19 caseload is now nearing the grim milestone of 201 million as many countries continue their battle against the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus even with mass inoculations underway.
The total caseload and fatalities stand at 203,925,022 and 4,313,342, respectively, as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 4,475,842,781 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
Read: US Hospitals run low on nurses as they get swamped with COVID
The situation in North America has worsened noticeably in the past weeks. The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 36,050,630 cases. Besides, 618,108 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data.
Brazil has registered 1,211 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 564,773, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the total caseload rose to 20,212,642 after 34,885 new cases were detected during the period.
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
India's total tally rose to 31,998,158 as 28,204 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry on Tuesday.
Besides, as many as 373 deaths due to the pandemic since Monday morning took the total death toll to 428,682.
Europe has managed to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. Mortality in Europe remains at a minimal level despite a new wave of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Britain recorded another 146 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest daily figure since March 12, according to official data released Tuesday.
The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 130,503. These figures only include the deaths of people who passed away within 28 days of their first positive test.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases worldwide in the past seven days has also increased to 4.3 million from 4.1 million in the previous week. The global case count has risen to the levels of mid-May 2021.
Read: Covid-19: Vaccination campaign begins at Rohingya camps
Situation in Bangladesh
As the Delta variant has sharply been fuelling Covid case surges, Bangladesh on Tuesday again saw a record 264 deaths in 24 hours.
On August 5, the country reported 264 deaths shattering its previous single-day record of 258 Covid-related fatalities on July 27.
Besides, 11,164 more people came out positive during the period after testing 47,424 samples, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers have pushed Bangladesh’s total fatalities to 23,161 and cases to 1,376,322.
The case positivity rate during the 24-hour period fell slightly to 23.58% from Monday’s 24.28%, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
The recovery rate, however, rose to 89.71%, with the recovery of 14,903 people during the period, said the DGHS.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.68% during the period.
Mass vaccination update
In a bid to ensure the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, the government has decided to halt administering its first dose after August 12.
The Department of Health Services on Tuesday issued a notice in this regard after getting an approval from the Director General of DGHS.
Read: Bangladesh again hits record high 264 Covid deaths
The jabs for the second dose will soon be sent to the vaccination centres as per the requirement soon, the DGHS said.
The government will start administering the second dose of Sinopharm from August 14. The authorities concerned have been asked to take necessary steps in this regard.
As the ruthless Delta variant of Covid-19 keeps rising, Bangladesh on Saturday kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drawing huge response.
With a fresh stock of vaccine doses in hand, the government’s aim is to inoculate 80% of its population, with each getting two doses administered.
Mission Inoculation: Military chopper takes jabs to remote Rangamati hills
The Bangladesh government's Covid-19 mass vaccination drive reached the Rangamati hills Tuesday, all thanks to the local administration and the Bangladeshi armed forces.
Barathali union of Bilaichhari upazila in Rangamati is one of the remotest parts of the Chattogram hills.
Read: 1.7mn Sinopharm vaccine doses to arrive soon
Despite beginning on August 7, the Rangamati health department struggled to take the benefits of the mega Covid-19 inoculation drive to this remote place.
Member of Parliament Dipankar Talukdar, in collaboration with the local administration and the Bangladeshi armed forces, came forward to ensure helicopter support for a team of the health department so that jabs could reach the Barathali union residents.
A helicopter of the Bangladesh Air Force took off for Bilachari on Tuesday morning from the Rangamati air base with vaccines and healthcare staffers, said Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Rashmi Chakma.
“Around 600 adults of the union will get their first Covid jab on Tuesday itself,” said Dr Rashmi. “Besides, the required medical equipment to treat Covid patients will also be provided."
Bilaichhari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Mizanur Rahman said his team repeatedly failed to vist the remote union because of security and communication concerns.
Read: 2 held over taking vaccine at home in Chattogram
He thanked the local MP and the Army for finally making it possible and hoped that the collaboration would continue.
As the ruthless Delta variant of Covid-19 keeps spreading like wildfire, Bangladesh on Saturday kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating 35 lakh people in six days.
54 lakh more vaccine doses to arrive by Aug 15: Minister
Some 54 lakh more vaccine doses will arrive in Bangladesh by August 15 as the government has geared up its vaccination campaign, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
“Some 34 lakh doses of vaccine under Covax facility will arrive between August 9-10 to August 15 in addition to 10 lakh doses, purchased from China. Another 10 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine will arrive as a gift,” he said.
Read: Moderna says vaccine 93% effective but seeks 3rd-shot in fall
The health minister revealed the information while talking to reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat.
This will help the country make the ongoing vaccination drive more dynamic, he said, adding, “We’ve started a successful vaccination drive that actually began on August 7.”
Zahid Maleque said rural people are taking jabs in a festive mood as long queues are seen during vaccination. “We’ve planned to vaccinate 600 people in each union but people are overcrowding the vaccine centres,” he added.
Read: Dr Zafrullah describes how Bangladesh can go for low-cost vaccine production
Minister Maleque said, “Those who’ve failed to take shots in their arms got that the following day. Besides, the remote areas have also been brought under immunisation drive as they’re interested in taking shots now.”
He said the vaccination drive in municipality areas will continue alongside the routine vaccination 30 lakh people have been brought under the mega vaccination process. “We’ve got approval to procure 6 crore more doses of vaccine from China.”
Read: Covid vaccine seekers overwhelm Suhrawardy Hospital; chaos all around
As the ruthless Delta variant of Covid-19 keeps spreading like wildfire, Bangladesh on Saturday kicked off another phase of its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating 35 lakh people in six days.
Covid jabs will be administered simultaneously in 4,600 unions, 1,054 municipality areas and 433 wards of the city corporations, Director General of Health Services Dr ABM Khurshid Alam told the media on Friday.
Canada begins allowing vaccinated US citizens to visit again
Canada on Monday is lifting its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the United States is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians, part of a bumpy return to normalcy from COVID-19 travel bans.
U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents must be both fully vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19 within three days to get across one of the world’s longest and busiest land borders. Travelers also must fill out a detailed on application on the arriveCAN app before crossing.
Read:Tribe claims remains of kids who died at assimilation school
Even though travelers have to register, the Canada Border Services Agency won’t say how many people they are expecting to enter Canada for the reopening. But travelers should plan for the possibility of additional processing time at the border.
“CBSA will not compromise the health and safety of Canadians for the sake of border wait times,” agency spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy said in a statement.
While the Canada Border Services Agency won’t say how many people it’s expecting, Garnet Health, an Essex, Vermont-based company that offers same-day COVID-19 testing, has seen the number of tests it performs more than triple in recent weeks. The increase coincides with Canada’s decision last month to drop a two-week quarantine requirement for its citizens when they return home from the U.S.
“I imagine once that border opens, we are going to see lots of people,” said Chelsea Sweeney, the company’s director of business development.
The U.S.-Canada border has been closed to nonessential travel since March 2020 to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The U.S. has said it will extend its closure to all Canadians making nonessential trips until at least Aug. 21, which also applies to the Mexican border. But the Biden administration is beginning to make plans for a phased reopening. The main requirement would be that nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
But Canadians aren’t waiting for reciprocal rules.
Joel Villanueva, owner of Primo’s Mexican Grill in White Rock, British Columbia, about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) north of the U.S. border, is more than ready for Americans to return.
Read:Canadian Indigenous group says more graves found at new site
“Let’s get this thing going,” he said. “A lot of our customers are from the United States, and we are literally minutes from across the border. We welcome our Americans, and we depend on their foot traffic.”
Villanueva said he supports people coming who are fully vaccinated and doesn’t think there will be a rush of Americans initially. But if his restaurant and dozens of others along the waterfront could fill some tables with U.S. visitors every day for the rest of the summer, it would be a big financial boost, he said.
Near the border in Washington state, Blaine Chamber of Commerce board member Carroll Solomon called the reopening a step in the right direction for businesses. But she also said it was somewhat concerning because of an increase in COVID-19 cases nationwide as the highly contagious delta variant spreads.
“For people who need to get up there (to Canada) for family reasons, it’s wonderful,” said Solomon, who also volunteers at the Blaine Visitor Information Center.
With all the hoops people need to jump through — being fully vaccinated, getting tested for COVID-19 and uploading that information to an app — she doesn’t think that people will be going to Canada for many day trips.
“I have a lot of friends on the Canadian side and would love to go have lunch with somebody, but you can’t just do that; you have to plan days in advance to make sure you can get through,” Solomon said.
It’s going to be an event for the Blaine area when Canadians can come down on a regular basis, she said.
As far as returning to the United States from Canada, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jason Givens said there’s no requirement to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
Read:Unmarked graves found at another Indigenous school in Canada
“CBP officers have been processing essential travel throughout the pandemic and remain ready and able to process American citizens and permanent residents returning from Canada,” Givens said by email.
Steve Blake, who lives in Stanstead, Quebec, just across the border from Derby Line, Vermont, is hoping his siblings living in the United States will be able to visit Canada soon so they can hold a memorial service for their mother who died in early 2020, just before the pandemic closed the border. But given the requirements, he doesn’t know how quickly that will happen.
“I’d like it to be sooner rather than later,” he said.
BRAC partners with govt’s Covid-19 vaccination drive
BRAC, a development organisation, has joined as a partner of the government's Covid-19 vaccination drive to accelerate resilience against the pandemic.
BRAC started managing vaccine administration in nine centres of Dhaka from Saturday with the help of midwives from BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health. It is also assisting the government in 3,214 centres at the union level across Bangladesh.
Read: BRAC gets regulatory nod to issue zero-coupon bonds
People aged from 25 years and above can get the jab by showing their national identity card (NID) between 9am and 3pm every day from BRAC-managed centres, said a press release by the organization.
The service will remain open till August 12.
The eligible must bring a photocopy of NID card or the vaccine registration card registered with the Shurokkha App to receive the vaccine.
The centres are offering vaccine doses only for those who have registered with the Shurokkha App but have yet to receive a short message service confirming the date of vaccination.
Read:One-third of female employed youths jobless as impact of Covid-19: BRAC
Only the first dose of the vaccine is offered from these centres and will mention the date of the second dose in the vaccine card.
Each of these BRAC-managed centres in Dhaka city can administer 350 doses per day.
Women, elderly people (over 50 years) and people with disabilities are prioritized in vaccination from these centres.
Dr Morseda Chowdhury, director of Health, Nutrition and Population Programme (HNPP) at BRAC, said, “We aim to ensure vaccine administration management in a disciplined way everywhere, including hard-to-reach areas. We believe a combined effort by everyone is essential in the fight against the pandemic.”
Read:Nine banks to collaborate with BRAC in Covid awareness and support
The nine centres BRAC is operating in the two city corporations in Dhaka city are: Nurer Chala Government School and Shaheed Turjo Primary School in Badda under the Dhaka North City Corporation, and councillor office in Paltan Community Centre, Dingi in Dhanmondi 8/A, councillor office in Dhanmondi Community Centre at Bhuter Goli on Dhanmondi Circular Road, councillor office in Hatirpool Kacha Bazar, councillor office in Shegunbagicha multipurpose complex, Fakir Chan Sarder Community Centre in Narinda, and MA Sattar High School in Demra under Dhaka South City Corporation.
Mismanagement, politicization made vaccination drive a complete mess: BNP
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday alleged that the government has politicised the mass vaccination programme by deceiving the common people.
"Our standing committee thinks the government has indulged in mass deception in the name of mass vaccination without collecting enough vaccine doses. The mass vaccination campaign has become a drive to spread mass infection due to extreme mismanagement and politicisation,” he said.
Fakhrul came up with the remarks while unveiling the decisions of a virtual meeting of BNP standing committee at a press conference at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office. The meeting was held on Saturday evening.
Also read: Covid mortality rate high for lack of treatment: BNP
He said their party policymakers urged the government to take effective measures to ensure general vaccination coming out of the process of ‘politicisation’. “We strongly condemn and protest the involvement of ruling party workers in the mass vaccination programme.”
Chattogram receives 2.6 lakh jabs ahead of vaccination push
Chattogram has received another 2,66,400 doses of covid vaccine on Friday morning as the nationwide vaccination drive is set to get a push on Saturday.
Of the 2,66,400 doses of vaccine received here, 38,400 doses are of Moderna, USA, 1,20,000 are of China’s Sinopharm and 1,80,000 are of Oxford-AstraZeneca.
Civil Surgeon of the district Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi along with the local vaccine committee members received the vaccine doses around 7am.
Read: People find 'easy excuses' to defy lockdown in Dhaka
The civil surgeon said the vaccine doses were stored in the central cold storage of the civil surgeon's office. These doses will be supplied to vaccination centres as per their demand.
Among the vaccine doses, AstraZeneca jabs are for the second dose, Moderna for the ward-based mass vaccination programme and Sinopharm for the union level in upazilas, said Dr Rabbi.
Some 4,53,760 people in Chattogram took the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. As many as 1,05,425 people who took the first dose have been waiting for their second doses as many have already passed four months since taking the first doses.
Read: Covid kills 218 more in Bangladesh as its catastrophe continues
Earlier, Chattogram received 1,84,000 doses of Sinopharm and Moderna vaccine on July 11 and 1,85,000 doses on July 28.
During the last week, Bangladesh administered around 307,614 doses on average a day. At that pace, it will take 107 more days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population here.
So far, since the inauguration of mass inoculation in Bangladesh on February 7 this year, some 4,416,131 people have fully been vaccinated with two shots while 10,009,953 have received the first doses, says the DG of the DGHS.