COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Bangladesh”.

 

“COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Bangladesh”.

The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Bangladesh began on 27 January, 2021, but the mass vaccination started from 7 February, 2021. Till 30 May 2021, total 9,991,671 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered In Bangladesh. Among these, 5,823,245 have received at least one dose and 4,168,426 have been fully vaccinated. Bangladesh is fairly on track to immunize priority groups by the start of this year, and expects to vaccinate rest of the population by mid-2022/Initially,Bangladesh government made a contract with Serum Institute through Beximco Pharmaceuticals for 30 million doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.However, due to recent upsurge of the COVID-19 infection in India,they decided to meet the local need first, and eventually stopped sending the next shipment of the vaccine. Bangladesh government has preferred AstraZeneca vaccine because it can be stored in normal refrigerator temperature, whereas, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines require subzero storage facility. This makes it difficult for a low income country for Bangladesh to first arrange the storage facility and then import the vaccines. Logically,Bangladesh has stuck to a more convenient option, Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Though the efficacy level of this vaccine is not as high as that of Pfizer of Moderna, it is proved that it substantially increases the antibody count. Hence, it can be said that Bangladesh has made a rational decision to ensure maximum chances of vaccination of the mass.