For a while the world was under a serious stress wondering when a vaccine against Covid-19 could be developed. But in a remarkably short time several vaccines were developed and hit the market. Many companies and institutions have come forward with their products and given the global scene there is hope. Yet a disturbing fact has emerged. The rise of vaccine war which is linked to international rivalries has hit the world with its ugly fist also. It shows that the future world even as they battle a pandemic like never seen before is still rife striven as ever before.
The European scene centresaround the Oxford vaccine produced by Astra-Zaneca that is being used by the UK, India and Bangladesh too. Bangladesh got its vaccine from India and initially saw the mistrust and suspicion about the vaccine just because it was sourced from India. It had nothing to do with the vaccine but all to do with the Indo-Bangla relations. Initially, therefore there was public resistance but later it declined followed by good response.
Of course for Bangladesh, the bad news is that, people have become careless and there are more cases now and that has triggered a second surge. A society like ours which has low level public response to official communication due to many reasons couple with low death rate is bound to land the people in such a trap.
However, there are bigger wars at work beyond the conflict between the informal and the formal construct as we are seeing in Bangladesh. It centresaround thehostility between the EU and the UK which has recently left the European Union. The Astra Zaneca vaccine has been produced in the UK and the EU is now into politics around it creating fear that it may lead to various problems leading to even death in cases.
It has been know from the first that every jab will inevitably cause reactions and side effects. Hence allergic people are all cautioned to take precautions. However, the European countries seem to be making a big scene out of it and several countries have halted giving people this particular brand of vaccines.
WHO and other bodies have stated that Oxford vaccine side effects are not in no way higher than that of the other vaccines in the market. Records also show that but given the environment of fear that exists all around, doubts are being created. Meanwhile, UK has begun to beat back the virus and case fatality ratio is at its lowest since the pandemic began there. Media in the UK and EU are of course fighting another war which is political in nature and that is deciding the level of trashing and fear mongering which is increasingly becoming global. This brand of vaccine, now used in Bangladesh is the one which is most easily available for us. Which is why managing a new wave of anxiety around the vaccine also needs to be addressed as Bangladesh battles the second wave of the corona surge.
