Bangladesh launches big-budget corona combat nationwide.

Bangladesh is launching a big-budget corona combat nationwide with logistics drawn out and vaccine mist cleared alongside planned alternatives as the government's economic policymakers Tuesday approved a revised allocation of around Tk 6,000 crore. As there had been reports of mishandling and major cases involving the medical matters in combating the invading pandemic in initial stages, officials said there would be this time "strict monitoring" of the activities under the corona project down to upazial level. At the core of the biggest-single scheme of the medical sector lies vaccination as a preventive action which was suddenly overshadowed with reported export ban on vaccines from India, the lone source of manufacturing Bangladesh has contracted. The mist was tried to be cleared Tuesday following behind-the- screen whirlwind diplomacy, analysts said. The chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, which is manufacturing the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine and is in contract for supplying 30 million doses to Bangladesh through a private pharma firm, aired a message now that there is no ban on the marketing of the vaccine subject to clearance from the drug administration. The vaccine is already in mass use in Britain and India also has launched trial use. Meanwhile, Pfizer /BioNTech vaccine under US-Germany joint venture, Chinese and Russian vaccines are also in use in mass vaccination in different countries and booked hugely in advance by rich countries. Some medical experts suggest exploring other sources instead of "depending on a lone one". Reports said a Chinese vaccine candidate had withdrawn from here "for delays" in clearance process. But now another China vaccine candidate may have final trials at BSMMU. Amid a resurgence in the virus with its faster-transmitting variant prancing, combat in countries is being ramped up with vaccination and restrictions for a recovery from ravages to life, livelihood and economy. Bangladesh is now experiencing a relative respite, with latest daily official figures showing 991 cases with 20 casualties as of Tuesday. The infection rate was the lowest at 6.85 percent. Proper medical measures are seen imperative for a turnaround from the delirium that has upended normal life and business. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the 1st revision of the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project with an additional cost of Taka 5,659.07 crore in a bid...