The European Union (EU) should be more flexible when it comes to sharing Covid-19 vaccines, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momin said, adding they  (the EU) talk much about human rights but “care little” to share vaccines which many poor countries need badly to save lives. Referring to the reports where thousands of vaccines expired  in EU countries, Momin talking to reporters in Dhaka said, “We expect the EU to be more generous.” Cases in many Asian countries are rising again and the lack of enough Covid-19 vaccines is hampering the vaccination drive in these countries. 

The EU and the US had come under intense criticism for hoarding Covid-19 vaccines which deprived many low and middle-income group countries of vaccines on time. Later, the US unveiled an ambitious plan, sharing 80 million vaccines worldwide. Almost 75 percent of these vaccines are being routed through the WHO’s COVAX.

In Bangladesh, almost 7 million people--roughly 4 percent--are currently fully vaccinated and around 11 million, close to 7 percent, have received single doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Bangladesh has been procuring vaccines mainly from China but it is also using vaccines donated by the US, the EU, Japan, and the COVAX. 

Momin said they will receive one million doses of Pfizer from the US on 30 August. So far Bangladesh has received 5.5 million doses of Moderna vaccines from the US. 

The Covid-19 wretched havoc in Bangladesh since April this year, forcing it to undergo multiple nationwide lockdowns. Late in July, daily cases peaked, crossing 16,000 infections on 28 July. The spread of the Delta variant caused the rise in the case in the past few months. 

The country’s health infrastructure came under heavy strain as thousands of patients flooded hospitals as more and more people required oxygen support and ICU beds. Although the daily cases came down significantly in August, it is still reporting over 4000 daily cases now. 

(SAM)