Vaccination drive
Global Covid cases approach 188 million
Believe it or not, the global Covid-19 caseload is fast nearing the grim milestone of 188 million.
The total caseload and fatalities stand at 187,739,616 and 4,047,966, respectively, as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,494,474,264 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
The Covid-19 curve in the US is rising again after months of decline, with the number of new cases daily doubling over the past three weeks, driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings, reports AP.
Read:US COVID-19 cases rising again, doubling over three weeks
Confirmed infections climbed to an average of about 23,600 a day on Monday, up from 11,300 on June 23, according to Johns Hopkins data. And all but two states — Maine and South Dakota — reported that case numbers have gone up over the past two weeks.
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 33,914,039 cases. Besides, 607,763 people have lost their lives in the US to date.
Brazil registered 1,605 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 535,838, the health ministry said Tuesday.
As many as 45,022 new cases were detected during the period, taking the total caseload to 19,151,993, the ministry said.
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.
The third worst-hit country, India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,907,282 on Tuesday as 32,906 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry's latest health data.
Besides, 2,020 deaths due to the pandemic since Monday morning took the fatality toll to 410,784, a steep rise from Monday's figure of 724.
Situation in Bangladesh
Struggling with the second wave of the pandemic, Bangladesh on Tuesday morning recorded 12,198 new Covid cases and 203 deaths in 24 hours.
The new numbers took the country’s death tally to 16,842 and the caseload to 10,47,155, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read:Covid claims 203 more lives in Bangladesh, another 12,198 infected
The fresh cases were detected after testing 41,755 samples during the period, pushing up the case positivity rate to 29.21%.
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
So far, 889,167 people have recovered from the disease, taking the country’s recovery rate to 84.91%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deaths, 61 were reported in Dhaka, 53 in Khulna, 30 in Chattogram and 27 in Rajshahi. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, seven in Mymensingh and five each in Barishal and Sylhet divisions.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, making those the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Lockdown eased
The government has decided to ease all lockdown restrictions in the country for eight days ahead of Eid ul Azha.
In a notification on Tuesday morning, the cabinet division said that the lockdown restrictions will be lifted from July 14 midnight to the morning of July 23.
However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order.
Read: Wellbeing during COVID-19: How yoga can help you during quarantine
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that Bangladesh Railway is going to restore its passenger train services for eight days from July 15-22 across the country, keeping 50% of the seats empty apparently to facilitate the movement of people during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Public transport services and business institutions will also be allowed to function.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on July 21 amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, shattering records every day.
A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there is an emergency.
Studying abroad: Bangladeshi students asked to get registered for vaccination
Bangladeshi students, who will go abroad for study purposes, have been asked to get registered for vaccination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will receive applications for COVID-19 vaccination till July 27 beginning from Tuesday (July 13).
Read: Covid vaccine registration now available on MyGP
Global Covid cases top 187 million
The global corona caseload has now surged past 187 million, as the second wave of the Covid pandemic continues its onslaught across the world even with mass inoculations underway.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 187,230,005 and 4,038,806, respectively, as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,461,554,109 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
The US has logged 33,886,515 cases and 607,390 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Read: FDA adds warning about rare reaction to J&J COVID-19 vaccine
Brazil registered 595 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 533,488, the health ministry said Monday.
As many as 20,937 new cases were detected during the period, taking the total caseload to 19,089,940, the ministry said.
The pandemic continues to spread in Asia-Pacific countries, with India reporting some 37,154 new cases on Monday. Japanese capital Tokyo, on the other hand, entered its fourth Covid-19 state of emergency.
India's Covid tally rose to 30,874,376 as 37,154 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry's data.
Besides, 724 more deaths have been recorded since Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 408,764.
Situation in Bangladesh
An appalling record number of 13,768 Covid cases were reported in Bangladesh while 220 people lost the battle to the deadly virus in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The new numbers took the country’s caseload to 1,034,957 while the death toll rose to 16,639, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Chattogram hospital to admit only Covid patients
Just a day before, on Sunday, the country saw a record-high 11,856 cases and 230 deaths.
The country has been seeing an average of 201 deaths daily for the last seven days. A total of 2,136 people lost their battle to Covid-19 in the month of July so far.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 44,067 samples, which takes the country’s daily case positivity rate to 31.24% from Sunday’s 29.67%, said the DGHS.
The fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the period.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, making those the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
So far, 881,521 people have recovered from Covid, taking the country’s recovery rate to 85.17%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of those who died in 24 hours till Monday morning, 121 were aged over 60 years, 46 between the ages of 51 and 60, 26 between 41 and 50 years, 17 between 31 and 40 years, nine between 21 and 30 years and one was a teenager.
Dhaka division, the worst hit region so far, reported 64 of the deaths, while Khulna saw 55 deaths and Chattogram 37. Besides, 23 people died in Rajshahi, 18 in Rangpur, 13 in Mymensingh, six in Sylhet and four in Barishal divisions.
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration on July 8 for receiving Covid-19 jabs, which was suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Read: Tackling Covid spread is not Health Ministry’s job: Minister
Bangladesh is currently administering the Sinopharm, Pfizer BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
As of now, 268,253 people have received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,259 the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 29,852 people have received the first jabs of the Pfizer vaccine to date.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses administered so far, some 4,295,568 have received the second shot and 5,820,033 the first one.
1.84 lakh doses of Moderna, Sinopharm vaccines reach Chattogram
Some 184,000 doses of Moderna and Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines reached Chattogram on Sunday as the government is set to accelerate the inoculation drive amid the worsening corona situation.
Among the shots, 105,600 doses of Moderna MRNA developed by the USA, while the rest 78,400 are of Sinopharm developed by China, said a PID handout.
It is expected that the vaccination drive in Chattogram will begin on Tuesday (July 13).
Also read: Bangladesh to receive 60 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses in Aug: Minister
The Moderna vaccine doses will be given in nine centres of the city, while that of Sinopharm at the upazila level. The people, aged above 35, would be able to receive the vaccines on completion of the registration process.
Civil Surgeon of Chattogram Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi received the vaccines of Moderna and Sinopharm, carried by freezer vans of Beximco Pharmaceutical.
Earlier, more than 8.5 lakh shots of Covid vaccines --762,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and 91,200 doses of Sinopharm vaccine-- were sent to Chattogram.
Also read: Bangladesh hopeful of receiving 3.5 mln vaccine doses from COVAX this month: FM
On January 31 last, some 456,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine reached Chattogram in the first phase, while 306,000 doses of the same vaccines on April 09 in the second phase. Later, some 91,200 shoots of Sinopharm vaccine reached the port city on June 18 last.
The Covid vaccination first began in Chattogram on February 7 last.
South Africa ramps up vaccine drive, too late for this surge
Some in wheelchairs, others on canes, hundreds of South Africans waited recently on the ramps of an open-air Johannesburg parking garage to get their COVID-19 vaccine shots. Despite the masks, social distancing and blustery weather of the Southern Hemisphere winter, a celebratory atmosphere took hold.
“What a relief!” said Vincent Damon, a 63-year-old electrical technician, after getting his second dose. “In the last four days, I’ve lost four friends. All of them under 60. This pandemic has gotten worse. It’s frightening.”
New infections in South Africa rose to record levels in recent days, part of a rapid rise across the continent, and experts say the surge here hasn’t yet peaked. To fight the new wave, South Africa reimposed several restrictions, including shutting restaurants and bars and limiting alcohol sales — and its vaccination drive is finding its feet after several stumbles.
But even as the campaign gathers pace, experts say it’s too late to reduce the deadly impact of the current spike. Instead, South Africa is now rushing to vaccinate enough of its 60 million people to blunt the impact of the next inevitable surge.
Read:Virus infections surging in Africa’s vulnerable rural areas
“Our vaccination campaign is gathering momentum, but obviously it’s too late to do much in terms of reducing the impact of this current resurgence we’re experiencing, which by all accounts is going to completely dwarf what we experienced either in the first or second waves in South Africa,” said Shabir Madhi, dean of health sciences and professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand.
South Africa accounts for more than 35% of the 5.8 million cases recorded by Africa’s 54 countries, although it is home to just over 4% of the continent’s population. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in the country more than doubled over the past two weeks to more than 360 fatalities per day on July 9.
Its troubles reflect a broader trend. Neighboring Zimbabwe went back into lockdown on July 6, and Congo, Rwanda, Senegal and Zambia are among the 16 African countries battling the new surge of infections sweeping across the continent.
“Africa has just marked the continent’s most dire pandemic week ever. But the worst is yet to come as the fast-moving third wave continues to gain speed and new ground,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa.
“The end to this precipitous rise is still weeks away. Cases are doubling now every 18 days, compared with every 21 days only a week ago,” she added Thursday.
The current upsurge comes while the continent’s vaccination rates are painfully low: Just 16 million, or less than 2%, of Africa’s 1.3 billion people are now fully vaccinated, according to the WHO.
More than 4 million South Africans, or about 6.5%, have received at least one dose, with 1.3 million fully vaccinated, according to government figures Saturday. Still, the drive is picking up speed after a bumpy campaign so far, marked by missteps and bad luck.
Although South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was quick to respond to COVID-19 and put the country into one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March last year, his officials were slow to place firm orders for vaccines, say critics.
Read:Fearing COVID, struggling Malawian women forgo prenatal care
This appeared to be resolved when South Africa’s first delivery of vaccines — 1 million doses of AstraZeneca — arrived in February. Just as the government was to begin administering the shots to front-line health care workers, a small study showed that AstraZeneca provided low protection against the beta variant, which was dominant in South Africa at the time. The AstraZeneca vaccines were scrapped, and South Africa quickly pivoted to Johnson & Johnson, which was still in testing but appeared to show protection against the mutation.
At first, South Africa received such small shipments of the J&J doses that its campaign lurched from week to week. But then a South African pharmaceutical firm was contracted by J&J to produce its vaccine, using large batches of ingredients sent from the U.S. The South African company, Aspen Pharmacare, has the capacity to assemble and package more than 200 million doses of the J&J vaccine per year, one of very few firms in all of Africa with that capability.
But just as the first 2 million J&J doses produced by Aspen were about to be used to kick start South Africa’s sputtering vaccination drive, the U.S. drug regulator recommended a pause in the distribution of the vaccine over concerns about rare blood clots. The suspension was brief, but South Africa eventually had to discard its doses because they were made with materials provided by a U.S. factory where there were concerns about contamination.
A further obstacle came when Health Minister Zweli Mkhize was suspended amid a corruption scandal in which his family members are accused of benefitting from an inflated government contract.
This all exacted a toll on South Africa’s vaccination drive. By the middle of May, the country had inoculated just 40% of its 1.25 million health care workers — a segment of the population it had hoped to be finished vaccinating by that time before moving on to the general public.
In recent weeks, the supply issues have eased: Large shipments are arriving weekly of the 40 million Pfizer doses that South Africa purchased. The country is getting another 31 million J&J vaccines, most assembled in South Africa. Vaccinations began for those 60 and over in late May, and schoolteachers and police officers became eligible for vaccines in June. In early July, shots opened up to those age 50 and over, and later this month the eligibility will be expanded to those 35 and older.
Vaccination sites have multiplied from a few dozen to several hundred, and the country soon hopes to be on pace to inoculate two-thirds of its population by the end of February.
Read:In poorest countries, surges worsen shortages of vaccines
The increased supply can be seen at the vaccine center atop the Johannesburg parking garage. It started giving about 200 shots per day when it opened in May. In the first week of July it reached 1,000 a day and last week it was jabbing 2,000 daily, according to workers at the busy site.
Even if the country can manage to get about half of the population over 40 vaccinated in the coming months, expert Salim Abdool Karim said he thought it would blunt the impact of another surge.
“We could basically avert a significant fourth wave, maybe it could just be a minor fourth wave,” said Abdool Karim, who is director of the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa. “But that is contingent on one thing: that we do not have to fight a new variant. As we’ve seen with the beta and delta variants, a new one could change everything.”
Global Covid cases surpass 186.4 million
The global corona caseload has now topped 186.4 million as the second wave of the Covid pandemic continues its onslaught across the world amid rapid inoculation efforts.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 186,405,992 and 4,024,869, respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,413, 404, 520 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
The US has logged 33,847, 474 cases and 607,135 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Read: 1200-bed Covid dedicated hospital to be set up in BSMMU
Brazil registered 1,205 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 532,893, the health ministry said Saturday.
As many as 48,504 new cases were detected, taking the total caseload to 19,069,003, the ministry said.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,795,716 on Saturday as 42,766 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 1,206 deaths due to the pandemic since Friday morning took the total death toll to 407,145.
Situation in Bangladesh
Passing through a catastrophic phase of Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh reported 185 more coronavirus-related deaths and 8,772 new cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
Read:Covid claims 46 more lives in Khulna division, say officials
The new numbers pushed the country’s death tally to 16,189 while the caseload to 10,09,315, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh already crossed the 1-million mark of Covid cases on Thursday.
Bangladesh has been seeing above 10,000 Covid cases on average for the last seven days as the second wave of the Coronavirus continues to play havoc.
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs on July 8, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Read:Covid onslaught in Bangladesh continues; 185 more die
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 162,513 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,237 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 15,698 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 5,925 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,294,911 received the second shot and 5,820,023 the first one so far.
Bangladesh to receive 60 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses in Aug: Minister
Bangladesh will receive 60 lakh more doses of Pfizer vaccine from COVAX facility by early August, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday.
The minister said this while talking to reporters after visiting a field hospital at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College convention centre.
Read: Bangladesh rolls out Pfizer vaccine at 3 Dhaka centers
Minister Maleque said the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the vaccine delivery information on Friday through a letter.
“By the end of July or in the beginning of August, we’ll receive 50 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China, too,” Zahid Maleque added.
“We’re hopeful of having 1 to 1.5 crore doses of vaccines in our stock within one and a half months. More vaccines will be coming in August,” he said.
Read: Pfizer, Sinopharm shots to start June 19: Health Minister
The minister urged everyone to show compassion to doctors and health workers who are in the frontline in the fight against Covid-19 serving patients round the clock, and many of them have lost their lives, too.
Read: Registered people will get Pfizer vaccine first, says health minister
As global COVID-19 deaths top 4 million, a suicide in Peru
On the last day of Javier Vilca’s life, his wife stood outside a hospital window with a teddy bear, red balloons and a box of chocolates to celebrate his birthday, and held up a giant, hand-scrawled sign that read: “Don’t give up. You’re the best man in the world.”
Minutes later, Vilca, a 43-year-old struggling radio journalist who had battled depression, jumped four stories to his death — the fifth suicide by a COVID-19 patient at Peru’s overwhelmed Honorio Delgado hospital since the pandemic began.
Vilca became yet another symbol of the despair caused by the coronavirus and the stark and seemingly growing inequities exposed by COVID-19 on its way to a worldwide death toll of 4 million, a milestone recorded Wednesday by Johns Hopkins University.
At the hospital where Vilca died on June 24, a single doctor and three nurses were frantically rushing to treat 80 patients in an overcrowded, makeshift ward while Vilca gasped for breath because of an acute shortage of bottled oxygen.
“He promised me he would make it,” said Nohemí Huanacchire, weeping over her husband’s casket in their half-built home with no electricity on the outskirts of Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city. “But I never saw him again.”
Read:13 die in Peru disco stampede during police raid amid coronavirus lockdown
The number of lives lost around the world over the past year and a half is about equal to the population of Los Angeles or the nation of Georgia. It is three times the number of victims killed in traffic accidents around the globe per year. By some estimates, it is roughly the number of people killed in battle in all of the world’s wars since 1982.
Even then, the toll is widely believed to be an undercount because of overlooked cases or deliberate concealment.
More than six months after vaccines became available, reported COVID-19 deaths worldwide have dropped to around 7,900 a day, after topping out at over 18,000 a day in January. The World Health Organization recorded just under 54,000 deaths last week, the lowest weekly total since last October.
While vaccination campaigns in the U.S. and parts of Europe are ushering in a period of post-lockdown euphoria, and children there are being inoculated so that they can go back to summer camp and school, infection rates are still stubbornly high in many parts of South America and Southeast Asia. And multitudes in Africa remain unprotected because of severe vaccine shortages.
Also, the highly contagious delta variant is spreading rapidly, setting off alarms, driving up case counts in places and turning the crisis increasingly into a race between the vaccine and the mutant version.
The variant has been detected in at least 96 countries. Australia, Israel, Malaysia, Hong Kong and other places have reimposed restrictions to try to suppress it.
The variants, uneven access to vaccines and the relaxation of precautions in some wealthier countries are “a toxic combination that is very dangerous,” warned Ann Lindstrand, a top immunization official at WHO.
Instead of treating the crisis as a “me-and-myself-and-my-country” problem, she said, “we need to get serious that this is a worldwide problem that needs worldwide solutions.”
While the U.S. missed President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one shot into 70% of American adults by the Fourth of July, deaths nationwide are down sharply to around 200 per day, from a peak of over 3,400 per day in January.
And the U.S. economy has been roaring back, with growth this year forecast to be the fastest in almost seven decades. Even cruise ships, an early vector for the virus’s spread, are resuming voyages after a hiatus of more than a year.
In Britain, despite persistent fears about the delta variant, Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to lift all remaining restrictions this month. Britain this week recorded a one-day total of more than 30,000 new infections for the first time since January.
Read: Citing pandemic, judge agrees to free ex-Peru leader on bail
Elsewhere in Europe, tens of thousands of soccer fans in several cities were able to watch in person their national teams compete in the European Championship a year after the tournament was postponed, though attendance in some stadiums was severely restricted.
In parts of the developing world, it is a story of desperation.
In Latin America, just 1 in 10 people have been fully vaccinated, contributing to a rise in cases in countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay. Meanwhile, the virus is penetrating remote areas of Africa that were previously spared, contributing to a sharp rise in cases.
Peru has been one of the hardest hit by the virus, with the highest mortality of any country in the world as a percentage of its population.
In Arequipa, Vilca’s suicide was splashed across the front pages of the tabloids in the city of 1 million. His widow said his death was a protest against the deteriorating conditions faced by COVID-19 patients.
Nationwide, Peru has just 2,678 intensive care beds for a population of 32 million — a trifling number even by the low standards of Latin America. Nor was Vilca among the lucky 14% of Peruvians who have received a single dose of the vaccine.
Across the country, a new routine has emerged as people spend their days scrambling to fill heavy, green oxygen tanks bought on the black market that are a lifeline for sick loved ones. Some businesses have tripled the price for oxygen, forcing many people to plunder their savings or sell belongings.
From the hospital where Vilca took his life, “he’d call and say they were all abandoned. Nobody was paying attention,” his widow said, showing on her cellphone a photo her husband sent of himself in one of the rare moments he was lucky enough to have an oxygen mask.
Along with South America, which accounts for around 40% of the daily deaths from COVID-19, India has emerged as the other main driver of mortality. Even then, experts believe the roughly 1,000 deaths recorded daily in India are almost certainly an undercount.
In the state of Madhya Pradesh, with over 73 million people, one journalist found that that the spike in registered deaths from all causes in May alone was five times pre-pandemic levels and 67 times the official death toll from the virus for the month, which was 2,451.
Rich countries including Britain, the U.S. and France have promised to donate about 1 billion COVID-19 shots to help close the inequality gap. But experts say 11 billion are needed to immunize the world. Of the 3 billion doses that have been administered globally, less than 2% have been in the developing world.
Read:Eight Barcelona de Guayaquil fans die in bus crash in Peru
“Pledging to provide 1 billion doses is a drop in the ocean,” said Agnes Callemard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general. She slammed politicians for opting for “more of the same paltry half-measures and insufficient gestures.”
The U.N.-backed effort to distribute vaccines to poor countries, known as COVAX, has also faltered badly. Its biggest supplier, the Serum Institute of India, stopped exporting vaccines in March to deal with the epidemic on the subcontinent.
Meanwhile, countries including Seychelles, Chile and Bahrain, relying on Chinese-made vaccines, have seen outbreaks even after reaching relatively high levels of coverage, raising questions about the shots’ effectiveness.
Dora Curry, an Atlanta-based director of health equity at the charity CARE, said she is deeply worried that while children in Germany, France and the U.S. are getting immunized, relief is slow to arrive for people far more vulnerable in poor countries.
“If there were a way I could give that dose to somebody in Uganda, I would,” said Curry, who acknowledged she will probably have her 11-year-old daughter immunized when she is eligible. “But this just speaks to the problems with the distribution system we have.”
Bangladesh rolls out Sinopharm vaccine
Bangladesh on Saturday started administering Sinopharm vaccine doses across the country, aiming to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
The vaccination started in the capital and elsewhere of the country with 11 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine gifted by China, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Pfizer, Sinopharm shots to start June 19: Health Minister
The vaccine doses are being administered at four hospitals in Dhaka district -- Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, and Mughda Medical College and Hospital.
Health workers and police personnel, students of government and private medical and dental colleges, students of government institutes of nursing and midwifery, residents of dormitories of public universities, officers and employees working in important national projects, expatriate workers, cleaners, those who are engaged in burial and those who were excluded from vaccination earlier and citizens of other countries who are working here will be vaccinated on a priority basis.
Read: Sinopharm doses reach Sylhet, Sherpur, Chattogram
A consignment of 600,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm jabs arrived here on June 13, nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses gifted by Beijing.
Bangladesh also received 100,620 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on June 1.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Malek said Pfizer vaccine shots will be given at four centres in Dhaka to those who have already registered.
On June 18, while exchanging views with local people's representatives at his residence in Garpara, Manikganj, the health minister said the country has not yet fully started the vaccination drive.
He said, "We hope to get vaccinated soon. We’ll get the vaccine from China and Russia. We’ll also get vaccines from India as per the agreement as it has not been delivered yet."
The minister went on saying, "Immediately after vaccination, a person is not protected, it takes a month."
The health minister also said Delta variant has also spread in our country and its transmission capacity is 50 percent higher.
"So, we’ve to follow health protocols, we’ve to protect ourselves, we’ve to protect the family, we’ve to protect the country," he added.
The government halted administering the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on April 26 considering the dwindling stock of its jabs.
Also, registration for the Covid-19 vaccination remained suspended amid uncertainty over the availability of promised vaccine doses from India's Serum Institute.
However, the mass vaccination of Covid-19 is expected to resume in July next as the government is making all-out efforts to collect vaccines, said Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus Thursday. "The government has allocated Tk14,000 crore for the procurement of vaccines as it’s an all-out effort to ensure Covid jabs for all."
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany) and Crona Vac (China) vaccines.
Global Covid-19 cases near 176 million
Despite a drop in the number of new cases in several countries, the global Covid-19 caseload is fast approaching the 176-million mark.
The total caseload reached 175,878,310 while the death toll climbed to 3,799,883 as of Monday morning, according to John Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 2,342, 590,769 doses of vaccine have been administered across the globe.
Read:As COVID-19 cases wane, vaccine-lagging areas still see risk
The US, which has been the world worst hit country in number of cases and deaths, has logged 33,461,575 cases with 599,768 deaths.
Brazil on Sunday registered 1,129 more deaths, bringing the nationwide tally to 487,401, the health ministry said.
A total of 37,948 new infections were detected, raising the caseload to 17,412,766, the ministry said.
Brazil has the world's second highest Covid-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third largest caseload, following the United States and India.
Besides, India's Covid-19 tally rose to 29,439,989 on Sunday, with as many as 80,834 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry.
Read: Covid pandemic: Situation in Bangladesh worsening, 47 more die
Besides, 3,303 Covid-19 patients died in 24 hours until Saturday morning taking the death toll to 370,384.
Situation in Bangladesh
Amid the growing concern over the rapidly increasing cases and the higher transmissibility of Delta variant, Bangladesh registered 2,436 new Covid cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
The deadly virus also claimed 47 more lives during the period, pushing up the fatalities to 13,118, said a handout released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The caseload reached 8,26,922 with the logging of the new cases.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
Read: India reports 80,834 new COVID-19 cases
Some 42,05,167 people got the second dose of this vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one.
Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162.
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.