Port city residents worry over getting second vaccine dose

Retired schoolteacher Ratna Raha received her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) General Hospital on March 25. She is scheduled to get the second dose on May 25, but then news broke of the shortage of vaccines in the country and Ratna has been worrying for her second dose ever since.

Her worry soon turned into panic when she came to know that a good number of people scheduled for their second dose on Sunday couldn't get theirs.

"I'm hearing news that many who received their first doses some two weeks before me are failing to get their second doses," Ratna told this correspondent. "I'm most worried over how long the effects of the first dosage will stay if I can't get the second one in time."

On Sunday, the aggrieved people at CCC General Hospital started agitating after being refused their second doses. The situation soon started to spiral out of control, compelling hospital authority to lock the collapsible gate.

People then took to the streets and started to block moving vehicles. Later, police had to bring everything in order.

But Dr Selim Akter Chowdhury, chief health officer of CCC, said the hospital never stopped its vaccination programme. "A lot of people who did not get called to the centre on Sunday came regardless, and when the officials refused, they started agitating," he said.

Through a video message yesterday, Civil Surgeon Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi assured that everyone who received the first dose of vaccine will surely get the second one.

"You need not be worried. High-ranking officials of the government have assured us that they will bring in the vaccines very soon," he said in the video.

The civil surgeon said vaccine will only be given to those who will receive a text message containing the details of their second dose. "The programme is set to continue at least until Eid, until we get further instruction from the government."

Meanwhile, sources in the civil surgeon's office said although the vaccination programme hasn't stopped, it has indeed slowed down due to the shortage of vaccine in stock. That's why many who should be notified of their second dose dates are yet to receive a scheduled date for it.

Preferring anonymity, an official from the civil surgeon office said they had instruction from the government to continue the vaccination programme until the Eid vacation, despite the stock shortage.

"This is why we have cut down the number of vaccine recipients per day," he said. "We used to schedule 1,000 to 1,500 people per day, we have now brought the number down to around half of that."

According to some experts, people who got the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine should not be worried even if they do not get the second dose within two months or eight weeks. According to a recent study, the second dose of this vaccine can be received until up to 12 weeks from the first dose.

Dr Munira Jahan, professor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University's Department of Virology, said according to the study, a 12-week interval between the two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can in fact bring better results.

Echoing the same, her colleague from the same department Dr Afzalunnesa said, "I believe the government should be able to manage the vaccine, considering this 12-week interval between the doses. So every person who received the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca should be able to get their second ones too."

Contacted, Civil Surgeon Dr Rabbi declined to mention exactly how many doses of vaccine are currently in stock.

He said a total of 453,760 people in Chattogram -- both the city and 15 upazilas -- have received the first dose of vaccine. Of them, a total of 316,301 people have also received the second dose till date, which means a total of 137,459 people are yet to receive their second doses.