Published in: The Daily Star
Date: 12 July, 2021

The government will start inoculating people with Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in the 12 city corporation areas from tomorrow and with Sinopharm vaccine across the country from today.

Issuing a press release yesterday, the Directorate General of Health Services said migrant workers are being given Pfizer vaccine at seven centres in the capital.

It added that the migrants can have the Moderna vaccine in the city corporation areas from tomorrow and they need not come to the capital for taking the jabs.

Others can also get the jabs in the city corporation areas, it said.

Shamsul Haque, line director of DGHS, said those who were administered the first jabs of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will have to wait a few more days.

“The Oxford vaccine is likely to arrive in the country by this or next month.”

Bangladesh already received 45 lakh doses of Covid vaccines from two sources — 25 lakh Moderna vaccine jabs provided by Covax, a global vaccine alliance, and another 20 lakh shots of Sinopharm vaccines bought from China recently.

The efficacy rate of Moderna vaccine is over 94 percent in trials.

Like Pfizer, Moderna uses the same mRNA technology. The doses need to be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, but those can be kept at 2-8 degrees Celsius for up to a month. A recipient has to take two shots of the Moderna vaccine — 28 days apart.

Vaccine registration is now open for people aged 35 and above along with front line workers and professionals.

On July 1, the government resumed administering the Sinopharm vaccine at all district hospitals and 40 centres in the capital.

Vaccination campaign, which started on February 7, stumbled due to suspension of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine supply by the Serum

Institute of India amid a surge in daily infections and deaths in that country.

Amid a fast depleting vaccine stock, Bangladesh suspended administering the first dose of the vaccine on April 26. Registration for vaccination was also suspended nine days later.

Bangladesh and Serum signed an agreement that the latter would ship three crore shots of the vaccine to Bangladesh in phases between January and June.

Serum delivered the first 50 lakh doses in January, but shipped only 20 lakh the following month. No shipment has arrived since. Meanwhile, India gave Bangladesh 3.3 million doses of the vaccine as gift.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/health/disease/coronavirus/news/moderna-shots-inoculation-begins-12-cities-tomorrow-2127796