All Bangladeshis to be fully vaccinated by year-end: Health Minister

All citizens of the country will get two doses of vaccine and the booster dose against Covid-19 by December as per target, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today.

"Bangladesh has been successful in its vaccination campaign. Around 10 crore people in the country have been vaccinated so far," he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.

The minister said the government has so far spent more than Tk 20,000 crore on vaccinating people of the country.

"About 70 percent of the population have been vaccinated. Among them, around 6.75 crore people have received both doses and 26 lakh people got booster shots," he said.

There are 10 crore vaccines in stock, said the minister, adding that Bangladesh received a total of 27 crore vaccine doses.

The country will have extra vaccines in stock even after vaccinating everyone, the minister said.

Zahid Maleque urged all to get vaccinated as mortality rate declined among vaccinated patients.

Currently, about 2,500 Covid-19 patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals across the country, including 1,500 patients in hospitals in Dhaka, he mentioned.