SARS-CoV-2 Variants and COVID-19 in Bangladesh—Lessons Learned

Abstract

The coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Bangladesh is a paradigm for how one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 1270 people per square kilometer, managed to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic under extraordinary circumstances. This review highlights the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Bangladesh and the timeline of their detection in the context of the global experience with the management of vaccination and natural SARS-CoV-2 infection. The motivation to overcome the COVID-19 vaccine dilemma and track Bangladeshi SARS-CoV-2 sub-variants underscores the potential for a low-income country to excel in international medical science, despite having stressed health care services and limited availability of resources for SARS-CoV-2 testing and gene sequencing.

Keywords

• Bangladesh
• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2 variants
• vaccination coverage
• pandemic preparedness