The Covid-19 Vaccines: Humanity’s greatest weapon must reach everyone

( This was written prior to Bangladeshi government approving the use of vaccines from Sinopharm of China. While the Chinese vaccines are to arrive by mid-May, I believe the measures mentioned in this article will help tackle the vaccine shortage and immunize the people of Bangladesh)

Covid-19 has cast its shadow over nearly every country in the continent.

Everyday we live in fear of exposure to the virus, while hospitals are shaken by clamors, cries and loud prayers as the innocent body lies, persevering with all its might against the invisible force subjugating the body. As of the moment I am producing this write up, 144,455,684 lives have fallen victim to the deadly virus, while 3,071,798 lives have been lost to its wrath. The most shocking news is that the cases keep surging despite the health sector constantly upgrading its methods of treatment, and this can be attributed to the several mutations the virus goes through within a short period of time by changing its strains. In our motherland, Bangladesh, 732,060 people have been infected so far, with the total number of lives lost surmounting to 10,683. And the infection rate keeps skyrocketing.

The economy and the health sector of Bangladesh have both received severe blows due to the pandemic. While our dedicated team of front liners consisting of numerous doctors and nurses remain active to battle the disease, several have fallen victim to it due to lack of resources and advanced medical equipment. Meanwhile, huge unemployment and lack of investment has slowed down economic growth and the wheels of economy has almost stopped spinning.

However, even when humanity perishes, there is still a glimmer of hope, shining like a beam of sunlight right through the darkest clouds humanity have witnessed this century.

It is vaccination. Our greatest weapon against our microscopic nemesis.

Vaccines are what we sought when the pandemic kicked in, and after various research and clinical tests, 13 vaccines have been authorized for public usage- these are: Two mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), five conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, WIBP-CorV and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Convidecia and Johnson and Johnson) and two protein subunits (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer).

How do vaccines work?

Vaccines are basically weaker versions of the causative agent -in this case the SARS-Cov-2 virus strain- or synthetic substitutes of it that are introduced to a body to act as an antigen (without of course causing the disease), so that the human immune system responds to it by producing specific antibodies to fight the disease. Since these antibodies remain in the body for a long period of time, they will act upon the specific strain the next time it gets into the body, and protect the body from the disease.

Vaccines have been proved to be efficient against various diseases like Hepatitis B, Polio or Measles, and it sure will be a great asset in the war against covid-19. When majority of people in a population are vaccinated, the risk of spreading the disease reduces significantly. This is called ‘herd’ or ‘indirect’ immunity. Hence the larger the proportion of population vaccinated, the better.

Are Covid vaccines free for the consumers?

The vaccines for covid-19 are free for the general public. Since vaccination should not be a private good that is excludable for those who are below the poverty line and cannot pay for the jab, it is free for all to ensure everyone gets their fair share of the defense against the virus. The federal government handles the cost of manufacture and the cost of transportation so that the people living within the territory gets vaccinated.

In Bangladesh, the government has made a commercial deal with Serum Institute of India (SII) to supply them 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The government has planned to inoculate 55 million of the total population of 160 million.

If covid vaccines are free, then what is the challenge?

The main challenge faced by Bangladesh, alongside many other less economically developed countries , is the availability of and the accessibility to vaccine.

Bangladesh has signed a trade deal of 30 million vaccines with SII, and hence according to the government’s plan, 5 million vaccines will be provided each month over a course of six months. This sounded like a smooth plan, but the reality turned out to be nerve-wrecking. Only 7 million vaccines have been provided in the first two months, and in the subsequent month 3 million more were sent as gifts from India. With 10 million vaccines available in stock, and India halting supply to the nation in order to meetup local demand due to surging covid cases, it has become quite a challenge to inoculate even 40 percent of the population of Bangladesh. According to sources only 5.6 million individuals have received at least one dosage of the vaccine, with only 50000 receiving the second dosage.

Why did Bangladesh have to face this problem of shortage? It is because till now Bangladesh has only purchased the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Hence an entire nation with a dense population is only depending on one vaccine and one supplier-the SII-and there are some understandable reasons for this.

The vaccine produced by the Oxford and AstraZeneca is the cheapest vaccine that is at our disposal. The Oxford-AstraZeneca costs Bangladesh about $5 per shot, or BDT 425, while the other vaccines like the Pfizer or Moderna cost somewhere between $30 and $38 per shot, and other Chinese vaccines cost over $20 per shot. For a developing economy like Bangladesh, 55 million jabs each costing over $20 is quite a burden. Bangladesh can only hope to receive vaccines from GAVI, under the WHO-led COVAX programme.

Only to exacerbate the situation, there has been a rising concern with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccine has been said to cause blood-clotting in the human brain in very few cases, though the vaccine has been backed by the EU who has concluded from a study that the vaccine is safe. Yet many do not feel safe and have backed down from taking the vaccine. This presents a new challenge to the government who are already shaken by the sudden halt in supply by India to avert the supply to meet domestic demand.

While the vaccine can be the only long-lasting solution to the pandemic that has threatened humanity for over a year now, it seems like further steps have to be taken and policies need to be implemented in order to achieve fruition.

What can be done?

As humanity stands face to face against an invisible force capable of snatching away lives, our will to overcome the vaccine crisis in order to win this battle is at question. It is the perfect time that our world leaders and the figures we look up to start acting rational in order to send humans down the right trajectory.

Large philanthropic organizations can play pivotal roles in making sure there is equity in vaccine distribution. Such organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and many other. There are a plethora of non-profit organizations in Bangladesh, and many organizations like BRAC, Hope Foundation, Khan Foundation or and Human Services Foundation BD must step up to ensure the millions of people they are willing to protect receive the vaccination. If such charitable organizations can help fund GAVI and the COVAX programme, GAVI can spread its arms of support further and eventually more and more underprivileged people can get inoculated. In fact, such imperative steps are already in motion- Lionel Messi, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, has struck a deal with SinoVac whereby he has sent three autographed shirts in order to immunize 50000 South Americans. If these stars who people look up to act, vaccines can be sent out to every parts of the globe.

Moreover, new policies can be implemented regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). What is the CSR? It is a self-regulating business structure whereby a company holds itself socially accountable to its stakeholders and to the public and can act in ways to enhance the society and the environment. Through CSR programmes, companies can broaden their image by actively engaging in volunteering and philanthropic works. CSR measures are essential when it comes to making covid vaccines more accessible to all. Many companies, namely the Reliance Industries, Accenture and Tata consultancy in India, have decided to provide vaccines to all in areas where their employees live in an unbiased manner. The CSR obligations in India are part of the community-based volunteer works, and this can ease the pressure upon a country like Bangladesh where the government has to tackle the vaccine shortage all by itself. If big corporations in Bangladesh like Grameenphone, Jamuna group or Bashundhara group of industries along with numerous public and private firms under the banking sector who significantly oblige themselves to CSR measures stand up to their morals and display integrity by obliging to CSR and funding vaccination, maybe we can acquire vaccines from many other sources and inoculate a larger portion of our population.

Finally, in the Boao Forum for Asia (BAF) conference, our Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon world leaders to declare vaccines as ‘global public goods ‘. What are global public goods? These are goods with merits or demerits that extend beyond the limits of one single country and reach out to every corner of the globe. As for public goods, these are non-rival and non-excludable goods that are provided without any cost. These goods are non-rival because the consumption of one individual does not hamper or reduce the consumption of another (for example a street light) and non-excludable because if one person wants to use the good, the person using the good before that person cannot forbid him/her from using it. Vaccines for the most part have been non-rival because they can be availed by anyone, but they have been excludable too because the more economically developed countries have been stocking them up in order to immunize their own citizens which has caused shortages for the lower income countries. Earlier in June 2020, Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus demanded that vaccines are products of the nature that must be made ‘global public goods’ and be provided to all, irrespective of race or nationality. While the petition has been signed by many prominent Nobel laureates like Malala Yusufzai and Desmond Tutu, no actions have been implemented yet and it is high time we strike the iron when its hot and ensure fair distribution of vaccines worldwide.

In these times of hardship, consolidation is evermore imperative. Nations, government agencies, private companies and philanthropists must stand together to ensure equity in vaccine distribution. It is time the wheels of economy start rotating again, students return to their beloved classrooms and resume education in the way it is meant to be (in physical classrooms, not in front of laptop screens) and people start moving back to their regular lives which have been halted for more than a year now, and for that everybody must receive the vaccine. And our duty as responsible citizens should be to wear masks and use hand sanitizers at all times even after we have been inoculated. Unity is key in this situation.

Because, together, we are stronger than covid.