Single-dose Oxford vaccine cannot protect against Indian variant

Bangladesh is potentially approaching a dual crisis. One is the shortage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield, leaving over 14 lakh people in uncertainty over their second doses, and the other is the emergence of the notorious "Indian variant" in the country.

Initially, there was a glimmer of hope that people who received the first dose of Covishield will be protected from Covid-19 at least for three months or so—and therefore, they can wait for longer to get their second dose, when it is available, to achieve a fuller protection.