1st segment of Pfizer vaccine arrives

The first consignment of 1.06 lakh doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is available in Bangladesh as the plane carrying the virus preventive item has touched Dhaka, a good news indeed for the people amid sudden shortage of vaccine.

An aircraft loaded with 1,00,620 doses of vaccine landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:22 pm, said Md Shamsul Haque, a line director at the Directorate General of Health Services. Health department officials received the vaccine at the airport.

The Pfizer vaccine doses have been brought to Bangladesh as part of the global vaccine initiative COVAX.

Chief of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said that the residents of Dhaka, waiting for their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine after registering with the national vaccine registration platform Surokkha, would get the Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

According to the health authorities, the two-dose vaccine will be inoculated within three to four weeks of the first jab. The vaccine's preservation temperature ranges between -90 degrees and -60 degrees Celsius.

The vaccine, however, can remain stable for five days at 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius, while for two hours at 30 degrees Celsius.

On May 27, the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) approved emergency use of Pfizer mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

The vaccine produced by Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV is the fourth Covid-19 vaccine approved so far by the DGDA for emergency use in Bangladesh.

The other three are: Covishield produced by Serum Institute of India; Sputnik V manufactured by Generium Joint Stock Company of Russia; and Sinopharm produced by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd of China.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), and the World Health Organization are co-leads of the COVAX initiative for equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines.