Bangladesh’s success story in dealing with the Covid-19 virus has been nothing short of astonishing, regardless of whether we’re talking about it in the regional or even global contexts.
It was due to the government’s timely policies and the general awareness and cooperation of our people that our country has been able to keep this still-deadly virus at bay.
And why wouldn’t we? With the recent announcement that close to Tk40,000 crore has so far been spent on procuring Covid-19 vaccinations alone, it really is no wonder that Bangladeshis today are doing far better whether we’re talking about the number of infections or number of deaths from the novel coronavirus.
In fact, according to the World Health Organization, at least 70% of the population needs to be covered with two full doses of the vaccine to keep Covid-19 under control -- the deadline for this had been set for June 30, 2022.
Bangladesh was able to achieve the target four days before the deadline. No small achievement for a nation that is still considered to be an LDC, by all means.
While the government’s fast-tracked inoculation drives were absolutely of the utmost importance when it came to beating this stubborn virus, the cooperation and consideration exhibited by our people deserves to be spoken of in the same breath, especially in light of how nations more prosperous than us were all but crippled by misinformation surrounding the vaccines -- leading many to doubt the shots and even reject them.
If there is one thing that has proven itself true it’s that the only thing that can hold Bangladesh back are crises which are felt at the global level. But even that is arguable at this point.
