The government approval to local pharmaceutical companies to start producing Covid-19 vaccines is yet another positive and progressive decision taken by the authorities concerned.
There is no doubt that our vaccine rollout has been extremely successful, and credit must be given to the authorities concerned for ensuring efficiency of the process, from registration to administration.
However, if the entirety of Bangladesh is to be vaccinated, simply relying on imports of vaccines may not be a long-term practical solution and as such, producing Covid-19 vaccines locally is the logical next step to ensuring vaccination for all of Bangladesh.
However, what must be ensured is that, now that production has been approved, the pharmaceutical companies approach this with the utmost seriousness that it merits, and that all facilities and personnel are of the highest level. This will fall not only on the pharmaceutical companies, but also the government and relevant stakeholders, to regularly monitor the facilities and audit them to ensure safety and quality.
In addition to vaccine production, there remain plenty of sceptics within the country with regard to vaccination, and it is important for these people to be educated about the necessity of being vaccinated, and the government must also focus on this while simultaneously dispelling the misinformation around vaccines that continues to permeate our society.
Bangladesh has done an admirable job with vaccination so far, and there is good reason to be hopeful that locally producing Covid-19 vaccines, together with educating the sceptics, will help rid us of this pandemic for good.
