Amid a second wave, Bangladesh grapples with growing demand for COVID vaccines

Interest in getting inoculated against COVID-19 was low when the vaccines were first rolled out earlier this year but that has changed, now that Bangladesh is in the throes of the second wave of pandemic.

Kazi Nafia Rahman, Staff Correspondent Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 August 2021, 07:01 PM
Updated : 11 August 2021, 07:46 PM

Spurred by the relaxation of registration rules, people in their droves are flocking to vaccination centres since the start of the latest immunisation drive.

While the growing enthusiasm for vaccination is viewed as a positive development in the fight against COVID-19, the government must now think about ensuring shots for everyone.

According to reports emanating from different vaccination centres, many people are returning home without being jabbed every day as the demand for vaccines far outstrips supply. Some have gone to the vaccination centres on two or three separate days without avail.

Crowds of people were seen in different centres of the capital on the fifth day of the mass vaccination programme on Wednesday.

People have been queuing up at some centres overnight to get vaccinated. Amid the hustle and bustle, many have been turned away in the end due to the lack of available doses.

A health worker prepares a coronavirus vaccine jab at Nagar Matrisadan centre in at Tilpapara in Dhaka’s Khilgaon on Sunday, Aug 8, 2021, the second day of a mass inoculation drive. Photo: Kazi Salahuddin

Initially, Health Minister Zahid Maleque had announced a plan to vaccinate 10 million people in a week from Aug 7. The target was later revised down to 3.2 million by the health authorities for the pilot drive.

The health directorate has already announced plans to start another mass immunisation drive on Aug 14. Now, the campaign is shrouded in uncertainty and its fate depends on the availability of doses.

During the six days of the mass vaccination programme, 350 people are being vaccinated in each ward of the two city corporations of Dhaka. However, the crowds at the vaccination centres are several times bigger than the limit.

More than a thousand people thronged the ward commissioner office No. 2 in Mirpur on Wednesday.

Anwara Begum had been waiting to get vaccinated since the morning but she was worried about missing out on the shot.

“I paid a visit to the centre on Tuesday as well. I came a little earlier today but found many people were here already.”

Increased interest in COVID vaccines has rattled many mass and regular vaccination centres.

Hundreds of people were seen getting vaccinated against coronavirus at Pallabi Nagar Matrisadan around 11 am. But after a while, the staff there told vaccine seekers waiting in line to leave as they only had 50 doses left.

Akhter Hossain, a jobholder in the private sector, said he had been to the centre twice but is yet to get vaccinated.

“I waited for a long time without getting the confirmation SMS. I can't get vaccinated without it. The first dosing of the Moderna vaccine will end today. I wanted to take this vaccine but that isn't happening anymore. ”

Many people who did not receive text messages came to the centre with their vaccination cards.

One of them, Palash Mahmud, said, “I registered on July 14. I haven't received the confirmation message yet. I heard that if you bring your vaccine card, you can get vaccinated even without receiving the SMS. But they are not vaccinating anyone without the message here. I don't know when I'll receive the SMS and get vaccinated.”

Israfil Islam, a health worker at the centre, said, “In the beginning, there wasn't as much of a rush for vaccines. It's hard to breathe now. People are streaming in but if we don't have an adequate number of doses, we won't be able to vaccinate everyone. ”

Brig Gen Zobaidur Rahman, chief health officer of Dhaka North City Corporation, confirmed that many people were returning home every day without getting vaccinated in different wards.

"Many people are rushing to get vaccinated. Again, many are going back without getting the shot. We are vaccinating 350 people in each ward every day as per the instructions of the health directorate.”

His Dhaka South counterpart Brig Gen Sharif Ahmed said the pressure is mounting on the authorities as the vaccine stocks were scarce compared to the number of city dwellers.

"A ward has around 150,000 residents. Among them, around 40,000 are over the age of 25 (age limit for vaccination). But in six days of the mass vaccination campaign, we will be able to vaccinate only 2,100 people."

“We can't give vaccinate the rest even though people's expectations have increased. ”

The health directorate says that despite public expectations, the resumption of the mass immunisation programme depends on the adequacy of the vaccine stocks.

Robed Amin, a spokesman for the directorate, said: "Whether we can actually run another campaign depends on the availability of vaccines. If there is enough doses, we may be able to conduct another drive.”

Bangladesh is currently administering vaccines developed by four companies -- Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinopharm.

The country has received 27.4 million doses of these vaccines from different sources so far.

These include 11.9 million AstraZeneca jabs, 5.5 million Moderna jabs, 9.8 million Sinopharm and 100,620 Pfizer doses.

A health worker is jabbing a person with coronavirus vaccine shot at a centre in Dhaka’s Hatirpool on Monday, Aug 9, 2021, the third day of the mass inoculation drive. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Until Aug 10, the government has administered 19.7 million doses of the vaccines, with another 5.97 million in stock.

But there isn't enough doses of the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to give out the first doses. All hopes are now pinned on the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. But vaccines in stock are not enough to meet the huge demand.

So far, out of the 9.8 million Sinopharm doses at the government's disposal, 6.8 million have been administered as first doses while more than 200,000 have received the second dose of the vaccine.

The government is now waiting to get more jabs to administer the second dose of the vaccine, having struck a deal with the Chinese company to buy 75 million shots.

Health Minister Zahid Maleqe said another 5.4 million vaccine doses would arrive by Aug 14.

Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the national COVID-19 vaccine implementation committee, said, "The vaccine is being given with the second doses kept aside."

The government plans to provide free vaccinations to 40 per cent of the country's 140 million population to curb infections and deaths during the pandemic.

Bangladesh, with a population of 164.7 million people, needs 131.8 million doses to vaccinate 40 percent of its population and 197.6 million doses to vaccinate 60 percent of its population, according to data from the Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Developing Countries.

The Task Force estimates that, based on current delivery schedules and agreements, Bangladesh would be able to vaccinate 19.64 percent of the population by the end of this year.