Western countries’ monopolistic control over the invention, production and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines will prolong the pandemic, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
The government plans to vaccinate all teachers as it aims to reopen educational institutions, which were closed on March 17 last year to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
It comes when the mass inoculation against Covid-19 has gained momentum with more than one lakh people taking the first shot yesterday, the third day of the nationwide vaccination campaign. We are planning to vaccinate all teachers of all age groups so that the educational institutions can be reopened, Prof ABM Khurshid Alam, the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told The Daily Star yesterday.
Earlier in the day, State Minister of Primary and Mass Education Md Zakir Hossain said all the teachers of the government primary schools would be administered Covid-19 vaccine within a week, reports UNB.
As the government is preparing to vaccinate millions of people across the country, likely from February 8, with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, many people are indecisive due to fears of possible side effects.
Unlike any other vaccine in history, the Covid-19 vaccines were developed fast, causing people to question its safety.
According to experts, however, the Covid-19 vaccines approved so far are safe, or those would not be approved by the regulatory authorities like the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization.
The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has also issued Emergency Use Authorisation for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on January 4.