Bangladesh has secured one of the lowest positions in terms of Covid-19 vaccination among the South Asian (SA) nations, as the country has inoculated only 14.1 doses per one hundred people until September, the World Bank (WB) data showed.
According to the WB data, Sri Lanka is on the top of the list with 143.9 doses per 100 people, followed by Nepal with 62.1 doses, and Pakistan with 39.4 doses.
Analysts said the government's poor planning kept Bangladesh behind on the vaccination list among the South Asian states, although vaccination is very critical for the country's economic recovery.
Different multilateral development partners, including the WB, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also opined that Bangladesh's quick economic recovery would depend on its vaccination pace.
The WB said the South Asia region accounts for 17 per cent of global Covid-19 cases and more than 11 per cent of deaths. The official total death count from Covid in the region has exceeded half a million.
According to the WB's latest South Asia Economic Focus report, some additional 15 per cent of Bangladesh's total population received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine in the two months since the end of July, while an additional 23 per cent of Sri Lanka's population received vaccine.
Besides, during the same period an additional 18 per cent of the population in Pakistan, 21 per cent in India, and 13 per cent in Nepal received at least one shot, it also said.
As of the end of September, both the Maldives and Bhutan fully vaccinated more than 60 per cent of their total populations and Sri Lanka 45 per cent.
Dr Selim Raihan, Professor of Economics at Dhaka University, told the FE that vaccination was very critical for the country's economic recovery.
"The first and foremost necessity is ensuring vaccination to all the eligible people. Only vaccination can protect people from severe infection or possible third wave of the pandemic."
The government should not wait for international supply of vaccines only, rather it should go for local production as quickly as possible, said Dr Raihan, also Executive Director of South Asian Network of Economic Modeling (SANEM).
Former Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Dr Mustafa K Mujeri told the FE that low vaccination rate was impeding quick economic recovery.
He said although Bangladesh was in a better position in terms of infection rate, but it would be hit if the third wave of Covid pandemic arrives.
If the country fails to inoculate the total eligible population, the economy could "back to the square one" even after the current recovery, he added.
Bangladesh has been struggling with vaccine supply, as it has a low base of storage against some 85 per cent of the non-vaccinated population.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Friday demanded that 15 per cent of the country's total population had so far attained double doses of Covid vaccines, while 30 per cent had single shots.
The WB, in its South Asia Economic Focus report, said the major obstacle to widespread vaccination in South Asia is the supply of vaccines.
According to the WB figures, as of September 27, most large countries in South Asia received fewer vaccines than required to cover their target populations. Efforts by the international community helped increase the supply of vaccines to the countries.
The WB further said there is a growing sense that the official counts are underestimated, and do not reflect the actual scale of the pandemic.
"The undercount of deaths can be especially severe for the developing countries. For the South Asian countries, several reasons can lead to undercounting," it added.
First, because of overwhelmed health systems, many Covid deaths occur at home or are indirectly caused by the crisis conditions, and these are excluded from the official counts, the WB report noted.
Second, because of inadequate testing, especially in rural areas, the official counts in many countries exclude Covid victims, who did not test positive for coronavirus before death.
Third, the system for keeping vital records is outdated. It may take hospitals and civil registries days or even weeks to process death certificates, creating lags in the data, it opined.
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