Shabab Tashrif Zama
Covid-19 has cast its shadow over nearly every country in the continent. Every day 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. And the infection rate keeps skyrocketing due to our ignorance. 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 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.The main challenge faced by Bangladesh is the availability of the 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 meet up local demand due to surging covid cases, it has become quite a challenge to inoculate even 40 percent of the population of Bangladesh. 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. 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.

As humanity stands face to face against an invisible force capable of snatching away lives, 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. Charitable organizations around the world can provide funds to GAVI in order to help them spread their arms and reach out to every corner 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. If big corporations in Bangladesh along with numerous public and private firms under the banking sector 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 ‘. Even Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus had made the same proposal back in June 2020.Global public goods are non-rival and non-excludable goods with merits or demerits that extend beyond the limits of one single country and do not need to be paid for. 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.

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 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.

Shabab Tashrif Zaman is a student of Grade XI in Scholastica School (SRU).