It is expected that Bangladeshis will start getting vaccinated in February.
This is a very important moment for all of us, and it is impossible to overstate the need for getting this right: After Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO back in March 2020, and after it was found within our own country, life changed completely. Isolation, quarantine, social distancing, fear, and paranoia dominated our lives.
But if 2020 was the year of the pandemic, perhaps 2021 can be the year of the vaccination. This is the year, if we work diligently, sensibly, and listen to the experts, that we can expect to dig our way out of despair, and into the light.
However, nothing should be taken for granted, and we need to get the vaccination process right, which is nothing if not logistically complicated. The population of Bangladesh is overwhelming, and until vaccine distribution can reach the whole population, some risk of transmission will remain.
The task ahead of us, then, is daunting. Even the more advanced economies of the world have admitted that vaccine rollout will not be easy simply from an administrative standpoint. This is compounded by the fact that many are sceptical about the effects of a vaccine.
Here, the government must educate people about the science behind vaccines. The only way we will emerge from this pandemic is sticking closely to the science, and if the experts believe that the vaccine is ready for dissemination, baseless conspiracy theories and fear will do us no good.
While to many, vaccination is an absolute good, others will resist the process, prolonging the pandemic. The challenge ahead, then, will not simply be logistical and administrative, but one of battling misinformation and ignorance.