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Applaud the desire of the PM, but COVID-19 vaccination should be for all
Muhammad Ali Bukhari writes for DOT
[2] No doubt, the chief editor, Nayeemul Islam Khan deserves the appreciation for his dedicated write-up in the Daily Amader Notun Shomoy on November 14 on COVID-19 vaccination effort in the country. However, as he prepared the same based on his discussion with the president of the Association of Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Industries, Nazmul Hasan Papon, which requires some critical aspects to be emphasized.
[3] In contrast to “Epidemic” and “Pandemic”, COVID-19 is a pandemic and to combat it, it is different than the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) established around the world in 1974. For such, the Health Ministry of Bangladesh should consider and make appropriate arrangement on global expertise. And the importation of 30 million vaccines from Serum Factory in India by Beximco at desire of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the period of six months does not fulfill tangible vulnerable population of the country; it needs at least 50 million! Then question may arise how much time it would take to vaccinate rest 150 million population? Did we ally pharmaceutical industries like, Incepta, Popular and Healthcare in process, those who have specific vaccine production and preservation capability? Therefore, practically we require a universal vaccination effort; otherwise the less fortunate population would be excluded and corruption would gallop at its best.
[4] Moreover, the price of a COVID-19 vaccine will depend on numerous factors including how effective it is at preventing infection, how long it works for, and how well other measures like antiviral drugs and public health measures work to protect the population, according to Canadian University of Alberta’s health economist, Christopher McCabe. Fortunately, Canadian government has secured 358 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for its 37.59 million populations from seven different companies, in case some of the vaccines in development prove to be ineffective in clinical trials. Already Canada has placed orders with Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for 20 million doses of the two-dose vaccine so that it can be deployed sometime over the first three months of 2021.