The health authorities in Bangladesh said they are monitoring the global concern over the serious side effects of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
However, no serious side effects have been reported so far among the vaccine’s recipients in the country, said the officials.
The National Immunisation Technical Advisory (NiTAG) acts as an advisor to the government on vaccine approval and implementation in the country.
When the AstraZeneca vaccine was introduced under the Covishield name in 2021, public health expert Professor Dr Bey-Nazir Ahmed was a member of NiTAG.
"In emergency situations, after analysing the scientific data, NiTAG advised to approve the vaccine in the country. The AstraZeneca vaccine was prepared in a very short time. It usually takes 10-12 years for a vaccine to reach the implementation stage. Sometimes more time is needed. When the vaccine was approved in Bangladesh, it was also approved in the UK,” he told the media recently.
“A clinical survey is needed to determine whether the problem that is being talked about is happening in Bangladesh. We advised the government at that time to monitor those who will be vaccinated. This observation is usually for a short or long period of time,” he added.
“Which vaccine can be approved, whether there will be a trial or not, how it will be applied, who will get priority, how to save - NiTAG advises the government on these issues. The Directorate of Drug Administration (DGDA) seeks feedback when a vaccine is discovered. These procedures have been adopted regarding coronavirus vaccination. If a vaccine causes a problem in a person, it may not be detected if the subject is not properly reviewed. For this, a certain number of people should be monitored for a long time after vaccination,” the health expert further said.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), so far 8 coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the country.
More than 15 crore people of different ages have received 36,68,75,000 vaccinations in the first to fourth doses, DGHS added.
DGHS Line Director (Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Expanded Immunisation Programme) Dr Mohammad Nizam Uddin said, "We are not giving AstraZenecar vaccine now. We have heard about the side effects of this vaccine. However, no such incident has been found in Bangladesh. We have an expert committee to work on this. The issue of vaccine side effects is observed across the country.”
On 27 January, 2021, the government administered the first Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on an experimental basis.
It was developed by the Serum Institute of India. After that, Bangladesh got AstraZeneca vaccine from other sources as well.
So far, 5,62,80,000 doses of vaccine has been administered in the country - which is 15.3% of the total administered vaccines.
Rare side effects have recently been reported in Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine recipients and the British-Swiss pharmaceutical company even has been forced to admit it in a legal battle following a case in the British court on the matter.
Although the company had said so far, the COVID-19 vaccine developed with the help of Oxford University is not harmful; however, there were claims that some people died and some suffered serious illnesses because of the vaccine.
UK’s The Telegraph reported that it causes a rare side effect called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TTS is a rare physical condition that causes low platelets in the blood.
Platelets help blood clot. As a result, if this component of the blood decreases, the physical condition of the person may deteriorate.
TTS causes blood clots in the brain or intestines, sometimes in the legs or lungs. As a result, the platelet count in the blood can drop below 150,000 per microlitre.
Symptoms of TTS include severe headache, abdominal pain, leg swelling, shortness of breath and seizures.
Considering the various side effects, no vaccine other than Pfizer is being used in the country, said NiTAG President Professor Dr Khan Abul Kalam Azad.
"Last November, we only told the government about Pfizer's vaccination. Moderna’s vaccines have some side effects on the heart, so we stopped that too,” he added.
"When the AstraZeneca vaccine was introduced, there was no alternative vaccine. Later many vaccines were found. These vaccines have been approved in different countries of the world including the USA, UK, Australia, Japan, and Germany. We have suggested the same. This approval was given based on scientific data,” the health expert further said.
However, he said those who have received the CoviShield vaccine have been asked to monitor whether there are any problems.
Doctors have been asked to seriously monitor patients with neurological, heart and lung problems.
As early as March 2021, concerns about side effects of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine spread in Europe.
Blood clots in about 40 people who received the vaccine in Norway and Denmark raised concerns.
In a statement at the time, AstraZeneca said there was no scientific evidence that the vaccine it developed increased the risk of blood clots.
DGHS says that the vaccination programme is now ongoing in the country on a regular basis.
As advised by the technical advisory committee, only Pfizer vaccine is being used in the country.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was last administered at least a year and a half ago, DGHS added.
