Direct school jabbing soon

The government has decided to vaccinate students against coronavirus, through visit to every school countrywide.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) now administers Pfizer antidote to students aged 12-17 from some dedicated makeshift points installed at some educational institutions in Dhaka.
But it causes registration-related complicacy as each centre assigned to deal students of five schools, says health minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday.
"So, we've decided to vaccinate students going from schools to schools to avert such complexity," he added.
Mr Maleque was talking to the media at an event at the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week-2021.
Without declaring any date for the vaccination, he said the dedicated DGHS team would start visiting schools across the country to inoculate students soon.
"DGHS is preparing its team with necessary training. The vaccination will be continuing in Dhaka and elsewhere. Administration of Pfizer vaccine takes much more time than any other doses."
Despite all odds, the minister cited, the government has so far managed to jab some 150,000 students.
"We want to cover all the students as quick as possible and we will take all possible steps to this effect," he continued.
Mr Maleque said they have already administered some 90-million shots of the Covid-19 vaccine. Of them, some 60-million people received the first dose.
The government has purchased some 210-million vaccines from various sources. Of them, it has already received 110 million while the rest is on the pipeline for shipment to Bangladesh.
At the programme, Mr Maleque inaugurated an automated drug licensing and renewal system where DGHS director general Prof Dr ABM Khurshid Alam and DGDA director general Maj Gen Md Mahbubur Rahman also spoke.
In another development, Bangladesh plans to use Paxlovid, Pfizer's antiviral pill to treat coronavirus infections, bdnews24.com reports.
The use of the pill, however, depends on clinical trials and approval from global health authorities, Maleque said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Pfizer said on Tuesday it was seeking US authorisation of its experimental pill that cuts the chance of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of severe disease by 89 per cent in a clinical trial.
The oral drug can be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic, as it can be taken as an early at-home treatment to help prevent Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths.
It could also become an important tool in countries and areas with limited access to vaccines or low vaccination rates.
The Bangladesh government is yet to make a decision on the use of the pill, Mr Maleque says.
"We don't mind using the drug if approved by the FDA and the WHO. We've already accepted Remdesivir and are now producing Molnupiravir. We'll accept it if Paxlovid reaches that level."
Meanwhile, Mr Maleque has declined to share information in parliament regarding the price at which recent doses were bought.
It would not be 'proper' to share the expenditure information as the vaccine doses were bought under a non-disclosure agreement, he said.
The minister did, however, mention the number of vaccine doses Bangladesh had already bought.
"The vaccines were bought with the highest competitive price and ensuring transparency," he said.
On Thursday, Awami League lawmaker Abul Kalam Azad made a query in parliament on the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses and their purchase costs.
Health ministry put advertisements in the media on July 09 sharing information on the cost of treating each Covid-19 infection.
It said the government had bought more than 10-million vaccine doses (as of then). As each dose cost Tk 3,000, the total purchase cost stood at Tk 30.45 billion.
More than 211-million doses have already been bought, the minister told parliament in response to a query.

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