News Bangladesh Corona Thread

[Isa Khan]

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said Bangladesh will go for coproduction of Covid-19 vaccines soon, emphasizing that there is no alternative to production of vaccines locally.

"It's a coproduction. They (partner countries) will send it in bulk and we’ll do other things here - bottling, labeling and finishing," he told reporters after receiving the first consignment of 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan.

Bangladesh to go for Covid vaccine coproduction soon: FM

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said Bangladesh will go for coproduction of Covid-19 vaccines soon, emphasizing that there is no alternative to production of vaccines locally. "It's a coproduction. They (partner countries) will send it in bulk and we’ll do other things…

www.theindependentbd.com

NEW DELHI: India is dispatching 10 containers of liquid medical oxygen to Bangladesh via a train dubbed "Oxygen Express," two officials said on Saturday as Bangladesh battles a surge in covid-19 infections.
The train has left from Tatanagar in Jamshedpur and is carrying 200 tonnes of oxygen, said one of the two officials cited above.

India dispatches oxygen containers to help Bangladesh as covid cases surge

Bangladesh has registered more than 1.1 million cases of covid-19 with more than 18,000 dead

www.livemint.com

Bangladesh will receive 250 ventilators coming from New Delhi on Saturday night amid increased hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients across the country.

Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen will receive the ventilators at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:30pm.

250 ventilators to reach Bangladesh from India tonight

Bangladesh will receive 250 ventilators coming from New Delhi on Saturday night amid increased hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients across the country...

www.newagebd.net

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Malek has said Bangladesh has a stock of 10 million vaccines right now and by August the amount is expected to reach 20 million.

He made the announcement at an exchange meeting with organizations and hospitals affiliated to the Bangladesh Private Medical College Association on Saturday.

Health Minister: Bangladesh to have 20 million vaccine doses by August

Family members of frontline workers who are aged at least 18 to get the vaccine shot, says Zahid Maleque

www.dhakatribune.com

https://www.facebook.com/mofadhaka/posts/1029112371162670

https://www.facebook.com/mofadhaka/posts/1029658297774744

 

[Isa Khan]

Two hundred and fifty-eight people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8am today, said a press release of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

This is the highest number of Covid-19 deaths reported in a day since the pandemic began in the country in March last year.

The total number of Covid-19 deaths in the country now stands at 19,779 and the death rate stands at 1.66 percent.

At least 14,925 new infections were reported during the period, taking the overall number of infections to 11,94,752, added the release.

Record 258 Covid-19 deaths, 14,925 new cases in 24 hours

Two hundred and fifty-eight people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8am today, said a press release of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

www.thedailystar.net

Another Oxygen Express of Indian Railways has embarked on its journey to Bangladesh carrying a second tranche of 200 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to help address respiratory distress.

On Tuesday morning, a train carrying 200MT LMO in 10 containers (20MT each) imported by Linde Bangladesh departed for Bangladesh from Tatanagar in India.

Another Oxygen Express to arrive in Bangladesh

Another Oxygen Express of Indian Railways has embarked on its journey to Bangladesh carrying a second tranche of 200 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to help address respiratory distress. On Tuesday morning, a train carrying 200MT LMO in 10 containers (20MT each) imported by Linde Bangladesh...

www.theindependentbd.com

As part of its ‘Stop the Spread’ initiative, the Coca-Cola Foundation is supporting the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society’s efforts to strengthen the government’s nationwide vaccine rollout and registration process.

The project will assist citizens with the online registration process, facilitate inoculations of people under the vaccination programmes organised by the government, provide PPE kits to health workers and vaccination campaign volunteers, and members of underprivileged communities.

It targets 20,000 health workers and volunteers in 40 highly impacted districts and aims to promote hygiene and sanitation practices in 35 districts.

Coca-Cola, Red Crescent Society to jointly fight against Covid-19

As part of its ‘Stop the Spread’ initiative, the Coca-Cola Foundation is supporting the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society’s efforts to strengthen the government’s nationwide vaccine rollout and registration process...

www.newagebd.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangladesh reported 239 more deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours until Thursday morning, taking the death tally to 20,255 in the country.

The figure of single-day death was 237 in the previous day as Thursday's fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.65%.

Daily Covid-19 deaths jump to 239

In the past 24 hours, 15,271 people tested positive with the virus

www.tbsnews.net

Bangladesh has slipped two rungs to rank 48th among 53 countries in the Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking for July, released on Wednesday, which indicates that the country's resilience to the deadly virus has weakened.

India – where Covid-19 was the deadliest in South Asia – rose six places to secure the 44th position in the ranking as infection and death counts have been going down from its peaks there.

Besides, Pakistan also managed to move two places up to secure the 45th place in the ranking.

As a result of resurgence in Covid-19 infections, Bangladesh's Resilience Ranking has been dropping from 28th position in March to 41st in April, 40th in May and 46th in June 2021.

Bangladesh’s Covid resilience weakens: Bloomberg

Bangladesh’s ranking has dropped from 28th in March to 41st in April, 40th in May and 46th in June 2021

www.tbsnews.net

Thirty lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine will reach Dhaka airport from China on Thursday night and early Friday.

Health Ministry's Senior Information Officer Maidul Islam Prodhan said, "Separate flights with Sinopharm vaccine will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10pm, 1am and 3am."

Bangladesh received 40 lakh Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses in two phases on 16, 18 July from China.

Before that another 20 lakh vaccine doses arrived on 2 July as per contract.

Bangladesh purchased 1.5 crore doses of vaccine from Sinopharm, which is expected to arrive in the country within the next three months.

30 lakh more doses of Sinopharm vaccine to arrive tonight

Bangladesh received 40 lakh Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses in two phases on 16, 18 July from China

www.tbsnews.net

Mothers do everything to protect their children. An example of universal resonance is Prabha Rani Pal, 65, who put her son's life before her own.

Prabha breathed her last at the Covid isolation unit at Chattogram General Hospital Tuesday night. She had been shifted to the unit an hour before her death from the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.

Earlier, the woman was admitted to the ICU with critical symptoms of Covid-19, while her son, Shimul Pal, 45, was receiving treatment at the hospital's isolation ward.

Woman dies giving up ICU bed for her son

Prabha breathed her last at the Covid isolation unit at Chattogram General Hospital Tuesday night

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Nilgiri]

View attachment 26787

Bangladesh reported 239 more deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours until Thursday morning, taking the death tally to 20,255 in the country.

The figure of single-day death was 237 in the previous day as Thursday's fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.65%.

Daily Covid-19 deaths jump to 239

In the past 24 hours, 15,271 people tested positive with the virus

www.tbsnews.net

View attachment 26788

Bangladesh has slipped two rungs to rank 48th among 53 countries in the Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking for July, released on Wednesday, which indicates that the country's resilience to the deadly virus has weakened.

India – where Covid-19 was the deadliest in South Asia – rose six places to secure the 44th position in the ranking as infection and death counts have been going down from its peaks there.

Besides, Pakistan also managed to move two places up to secure the 45th place in the ranking.

As a result of resurgence in Covid-19 infections, Bangladesh's Resilience Ranking has been dropping from 28th position in March to 41st in April, 40th in May and 46th in June 2021.

Bangladesh’s Covid resilience weakens: Bloomberg

Bangladesh’s ranking has dropped from 28th in March to 41st in April, 40th in May and 46th in June 2021

www.tbsnews.net

Thirty lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine will reach Dhaka airport from China on Thursday night and early Friday.

Health Ministry's Senior Information Officer Maidul Islam Prodhan said, "Separate flights with Sinopharm vaccine will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10pm, 1am and 3am."

Bangladesh received 40 lakh Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses in two phases on 16, 18 July from China.

Before that another 20 lakh vaccine doses arrived on 2 July as per contract.

Bangladesh purchased 1.5 crore doses of vaccine from Sinopharm, which is expected to arrive in the country within the next three months.

30 lakh more doses of Sinopharm vaccine to arrive tonight

Bangladesh received 40 lakh Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses in two phases on 16, 18 July from China

www.tbsnews.net

Mothers do everything to protect their children. An example of universal resonance is Prabha Rani Pal, 65, who put her son's life before her own.

Prabha breathed her last at the Covid isolation unit at Chattogram General Hospital Tuesday night. She had been shifted to the unit an hour before her death from the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.

Earlier, the woman was admitted to the ICU with critical symptoms of Covid-19, while her son, Shimul Pal, 45, was receiving treatment at the hospital's isolation ward.

Woman dies giving up ICU bed for her son

Prabha breathed her last at the Covid isolation unit at Chattogram General Hospital Tuesday night

www.tbsnews.net

Bangladesh is a brother country to India...and helped us in our time of need just earlier.

It is thus especially sad to see some of these stories.

Our thoughts and prayers are directed towards the Bangladeshi people in this time.

Whatever assistance can be done should be done for our brother country.

 

[Madokafc]

One should directed efforts to push herd immunity achieved sooner. Though i hope there is no other more lethal variant appear during the process

 

[Isa Khan]

Two hundred and sixty-four people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8am today, said a press release of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

This is the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19 since the pandemic started in the country last year.

The total number of Covid deaths in the country now stands at 21,902 and the overall death rate at 1.66 percent.

Record 264 Covid-19 deaths, 12,744 cases recorded in 24 hours

Two hundred and sixty-four people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8am today, said a press release of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

www.thedailystar.net

The mass vaccination campaign, previously slated for six days, will now be held in one day only on 7 August.

The government has changed its plan for mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign, scheduled for 7-12 August, citing manpower and vaccine shortages.

"The inoculation will instead be held on 7 August only. Then it will resume under a new campaign after seven days gap," Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Director General Professor ABM Khurshid Alam confirmed The Business Standard on Thursday.

"The nationwide mass vaccination programme is likely to resume again from 14 August," he added.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the government on Wednesday.

Mass inoculation plan changed due to vaccine, manpower crises

The mass vaccination campaign, previously slated for six days, will now be held in one day only on 7 August. The government has changed its plan for mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign, scheduled for 7-12 August, citing manpower and vaccine shortages. "The inoculation will instead be held on 7...

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangladesh government today signed a tripartite agreement with the Chinese company Sinopharm and local drug manufacturer Incepta Pharmaceuticals to facilitate co-production of the inactivated Covid-19 vaccine (Vero Cell).

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Health Minister Zahid Maleque, Li Jiming and Incepta Chairman Abdul Muktadir.

As per the agreement, Incepta will start producing the vaccine very soon.

This vaccine is relatively easier to store compared to its counterparts, and authorities concerned are distributing the doses from the capital to the union level.

Deal signed to co-produce Chinese vaccine locally in 3 months

Incepta Vaccines Ltd will dispense 50 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine each month from its Dhaka plant

www.tbsnews.net

Bangladesh has found the existence of the new coronavirus strain similar to "Lambda", which is a new variant of interest of Covid-19 found in Peru.

It was confirmed after genome sequencing by the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) and Jahangirnagar University.

The genome sequencing report stated that the presence of the Lambda variant was found by sequencing a sample of a 49-year-old woman in Dhaka.

The variant was detected among samples collected in March, the report added.

Meantime, the Lambda Covid-19 variant has now spread to as many as 29 countries, most notably in South America, where it is believed to have originated.

The World Health Organization (WHO) dubbed the Lambda Covid-19 variant as a global 'variant of interest' due to its elevated presence in South America.

It was first detected in August last year, accounts for around 81% of the cases reported since April in Peru, according to WHO.

New variant of Covid-19 found in Bangladesh

The variant was detected among samples collected in March

www.tbsnews.net

Bangladesh reported 174 deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours until Monday 8am, as the death curve has been witnessing a downward trend for the last four days.

The death toll reported today is the lowest in 24 days as the country saw over 200 daily deaths for straight 20 days since 24 July.

Daily Covid-19 deaths further drop to 174 in 24hrs

The death toll reported today is the lowest in 24 days

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

For long there had been no drug for the treatment of coronavirus, but last week the UK government gave its approval for the new drug molnupiravir. The capsule, to be administered orally, is now being manufactured in Bangladesh. This is a milestone, according to drug experts.

According to sources at the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) and various pharmaceutical companies, almost all the major drug manufacturing companies in the country have applied to DGDA for approval to manufacture this drug. The companies awaiting this approval are Eskayef, Square, Beximco, Reneta, Incepta, Health Care, Radiant, Acme and a few others.
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The oral anti-viral drug molnupiravir has been manufactured by the US company Merck and Ridgeback. Tests on the drug have been carried out in 17 countries including UK, the US, Canada, France, France and Germany.
The United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority gave its approval to the drug on 4 November. The European Medicine Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are considering approval of the drug.

Several drug manufacturing companies around the world are working on the manufacture of a drug against coronavirus. Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutic are ahead in this race, with the innovation of molnupiravir.
International media reports that Pfizer has been receiving positive results from a drug it is working on. All these days people were looking forward to new vaccines, now they are looking forward to new drugs to fight against coronavirus.

Drug experts see the manufacture of this new drug in Bangladesh as an important milestone.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, professor of pharmacy at Dhaka University, Sitesh Chandra Bachar said, "This is a significant event during the pandemic. We were not able to manufacture the corona vaccine, but we will soon be manufacturing a drug against Covid. We have the capacity. Once the drug comes to the market, controlling corona will be easier."

This oral capsule is to be taken the moment corona symptoms appear. This will make it possible to avert serious illness and hospitalisation. The entire world was waiting such a drug from the outbreak of the pandemic. Merck managed to successfully come up with the drug after months of experimentation. Tests on the effectiveness of molnupiravir show that only 7.3 per cent of the patients using the drug had to be hospitalised.

A senior official of DGDA, on condition of anonymity, said on Monday night several companies had taken up the initiative to manufacture molnupiravir and had, initially, applied for the approval of the 'recipe'. Some of the companies had been given approval.

The 'recipe' involves the ingredients, the proportion of these ingredients, how the drug will be manufactured and so on. Once the recipe is approved, the companies will submit their capsules or samples to the directorate which will then run tests on the drug. Then, if all is well, approval will be given for the manufacture of molnupiravir.

Due to global trade policies and laws, Bangladesh can manufacture drugs invented by other companies or countries. The intellectual property act does not apply here. Bangladesh's pharmaceutical companies are using this to their advantage in manufacturing the Merck drug. However, only Eskayef, Square, Incepta, Acme and Renata have drug manufacturing plants approved by the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority.

An official of one of the major drug manufacturing companies on Monday night told Prothom Alo, on condition of anonymity, that an adult will have to take four of these capsules in the morning and four in the evening.

In that manner, 40 capsules will be taken by a patient in five days. Each capsule is likely to cost Tk 70. The drug will soon be in the market, the official said.

New corona drug being manufactured in Bangladesh

For long there had been no drug for the treatment of coronavirus, but last week the UK government gave its approval for the new drug molnupiravir. The capsule, to be administered orally, is now being manufactured in Bangladesh

en.prothomalo.com

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangavax, Bangladesh’s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, has received ethical clearance from the authorities for a human trial on up to 64 healthy adult participants.​

The plan is to administer the vaccine, developed by Globe Biotech, to the participants at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said Dr Mamun Al Mahtab, who is heading the team for the trials.

Mahtab, working for Clinical Research Organisation Ltd which will conduct the trials on behalf of Globe Biotech, said the volume of Bangavax samples is similar to those developed by US firms Pfizer and Moderna.

A BSMMU professor, Mahtab also said they are ready to begin the small Phase-1 trial immediately after getting the final approval.

Bangladesh Medical Research Council gave the ethical clearance on Tuesday after reviewing data submitted by the company on animal trials.

Globe Biotech had earlier sought approval after experiments on rabbits, but the authorities said the vaccine needed to be tested on monkeys or chimpanzees before human trials.

Dr Mohammad Mohiuddin, a senior manager at Globe Biotech, said they will apply to the Directorate General of Drug Administration for the final approval for human trial now.

He believes the DGDA review for approval will not take time because the directorate already approved the production of Bangavax for trial after visiting the company’s plant last year.

Mohiuddin had earlier said that the vaccine yielded "good results” in trials on monkeys and the firm hopes it will be effective and safe for humans as well.

The vaccine can be stored at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius for one month and of -20 degrees Celsius for up to six months.

Globe Biotech received a licence to produce the potential vaccine for trial in December 2020 and applied for ethical clearance to begin clinical trials in 2021.

One dose of the vaccine had created working antibodies during initial trials on animals, the company said.

It initially named the vaccine 'Bancovid', but later changed it to Bangavax.

Bangladesh’s neighbour India is producing homegrown and foreign vaccines against COVID-19.

Bangladesh is purchasing vaccine doses from India and China. It is also receiving shots for free from COVAX, a global vaccine-sharing programme led by the World Health Organization.

Bangladesh’s Globe Biotech gets nod to test homegrown COVID vaccine on 64 adults

Bangavax, Bangladesh’s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, has received ethical clearance from the authorities for a human trial on up to 64 healthy adult participants.

bdnews24.com

 

[Isa Khan]

Health authorities in Bangladesh have confirmed the first cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Two women cricketers of Bangladesh tested positive for Covid-19 on 6 December and the variant was confirmed some days later, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Principal Scientific Officer Dr ASM Alamgir told The Business Standard on Saturday.

The national women's cricket team recently went to Zimbabwe to participate in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, while addressing the press the same day, said, "Both the cricketers are now in institutional quarantine. They are undergoing multiple tests."

"They are suffering from fever. However, their condition is stable now," the minister added.

When asked about the situation of the other squad members, Maleque said, "Everyone who came into their contact has been tested. All of the results have come back negative."

The newest variant, which is deemed highly contagious and capable of undergoing frequent mutations, has pushed many countries to revert the relaxed restrictions to their previous state of stern travel curb.

The Bangladesh government recently made 14 days institutional quarantine mandatory for those returning from total seven African countries.

The countries are Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Omicron variant has so far been reported in 57 nations and the number of patients needing hospitalisation is likely to rise as it spreads.

On 26 November, the WHO declared the Omicron variant, which was first detected in southern Africa, a variant of concern. It is the fifth SARS-CoV-2 strain to carry such a designation.

Referring to the risk of reinfection, the WHO said: "Preliminary analysis suggests that the mutations present in the Omicron variant may reduce neutralising activity of antibodies resulting in reduced protection from natural immunity."

The Omicron variant can partially evade the protection from two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the research head of a laboratory at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said earlier this month.

Bangladesh reports first Omicron cases

Bangladesh has detected the first cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in two Bangladeshi women cricketers who returned from Zimbabwe last week. Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Saturday that they were both in quarantine and good health. Experts have now called for getting more...

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd will start producing a generic version of Pfizer's Paxlovid, an oral treatment for mild-to-moderate Covid-19 infection.

The pharma company was granted a sub-license from the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool on Thursday.

The Medicines Patent Pool is working with the aim to increase poor countries' access to drugs.

According to a report of MarketWatch, the pharma company said it will manufacture the drug – an antiviral combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir - in Bangladesh after successful technology transfer and regulatory approvals.

The drug received emergency use authorization in December 2021 for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19.

"This further collaboration with MPP is testament to our commitment to providing a broad selection of affordable treatments to combat Covid-19 in low- and middle-income countries, as well as our strong reputation as a producer of high-quality generic medicines," MarketWatch quoted Beximico Managing Director Nazmul Hassan.

Beximco to produce Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug locally

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd has received a sublicence from the Medicines Patent Pool, a United Nations-backed public health organisation, to produce Pfizer's breakthrough Covid-19 drug Paxlovid. The pharmaceutical giant said it will manufacture the drug – which is an antiviral combination of...

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangladesh has advanced eight notches to rank 5th out of 121 countries across the globe on Nikkei’s Covid-19 Recovery Index.

With a score of 80 on the index, Bangladesh ranked only below Qatar, the UAE, Cambodia and Rwanda in the latest edition of the index published Thursday.

Of the other South Asian countries in the list, Nepal ranked 6th, Pakistan 23rd, Sri Lanka 31st, and India were 70th.

Bangladesh’s Covid-19 infections have been on a downward spiral in recent months. While the country’s total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,127, with no new fatalities reported for over a fortnight now.

The country placed 13th on the Covid recovery index in March.

Taiwan’s ranking has plunged in the latest edition of Nikkei’s Covid-19 Recovery Index as the island transitions from a strict zero-virus strategy to living with the respiratory illness, even as infections surge.

The country tumbled out of the fourth spot to No. 94 in the latest ranking, tied with China, which fell 62 places from last month as the country battles its worst outbreak since the virus was first detected in the city of Wuhan more than two years ago.

The index, updated at the end of each month, assesses countries and regions on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility.

The higher the ranking, the closer a place is to recovery, characterised by lower infection and death rates, better inoculation coverage, as well as fewer movement restrictions.

The index is maintained by Nikkei, Japan’s leading business publication group that includes the Nikkei, Nikkei Asia, and the Financial Times (of London).

Bangladesh 5th in the world, top in South Asia in Covid recovery index

Bangladesh has advanced eight notches to rank 5th out of 121 countries across the globe on Nikkei’s Covid-19 Recovery Index.....

www.newagebd.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Local drug manufacturer Incepta Pharmaceuticals has pulled out of Chinese company Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine production plan as it says the vaccine is ineffective now.

"The vaccine we planned to produce is currently not effective anywhere in the world. We had an agreement with Sinopharm, but we are not following through it because it is not effective," Abdul Muktadir, chairman and managing director of Incepta, told The Business Standard.

He said, "When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out…Sinopharm made a vaccine. In the last three years, the virus transformed completely and now there are several variants of it including the Omicron BA5.2.

"The old virus is gone, so severe respiratory disease is no longer caused by Covid-19. The vaccine is no longer effective, so there is no question of producing it."

Bangladesh signed a tripartite agreement with the Chinese company Sinopharm and local drug manufacturer Incepta Pharmaceuticals on 16 August 2021 to facilitate co-production of the inactivated Covid-19 vaccine (Vero Cell).

According to the MoU, semi-finished raw materials for vaccine production would have been imported from China in bulk which would be bottled, labelled and finished by Incepta. The government would buy those finished products from Incepta at a fixed rate.

When the MoU was signed, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Incepta would be able to supply about four crore doses of vaccine within three months.

However, later, Incepta and Sinopharm did not advance the plan of vaccine production in the country, said Professor Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, director general of the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS).

Professor Dr Alam told TBS, "People are no longer interested in vaccines because Covid-19 infections have decreased. Besides, companies care for profits. Why will they invest money if there is no market for the product?

"Now the government has taken an initiative to produce the vaccine. There has been a lot of progress including buying land and hiring consultants for this purpose. It is no longer feasible to bring vaccines from foreign companies and bottle it for marketing here. Besides, we have enough vaccines. We are currently providing the fourth dose of the vaccine."

So far, around 14.98 crore Bangladeshis have received at least one dose of a vaccine – 88.01% of the population. At least 12.89 crore have completed a vaccination regimen and 6.58 crore have received boosters and 4th doses received 438,706 people.

Incepta Pharma abandons Covid vaccine plan

Local drug manufacturer Incepta Pharmaceuticals has pulled out of Chinese company Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine production plan as it says the vaccine is ineffective now. "The vaccine we planned to produce is currently not effective anywhere in the world. We had an agreement with Sinopharm, but...

www.tbsnews.net