Covid Booster: Vaccination to begin in 7-10 days
The government will start administering Covid-19 booster shots in the next seven to 10 days, Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced yesterday.
He made the announcement at an event in the capital while receiving over 80 lakh doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca Covid vaccine given by Japan and the UK under the Covax programme.
On Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed the authorities concerned to prepare for administering the booster shots.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), however, has urged countries to vaccinate the unvaccinated population first before giving out booster doses.
Bangladesh has so far fully vaccinated 25.46 percent of its population, shows government data. The target is to inoculate 80 percent of the population.
At yesterday's event, the health minister said the government has a stock of four crore doses of Covid vaccines and another 1-1.5 crore people will be jabbed by the year-end.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito handed 40.08 lakh doses and British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Chatterton Dickson 40.55 lakh doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the minister.
Health ministry's Senior Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah, Country Representative of Unicef Sheldon Yett and officials from the ministry and the embassies concerned were present in the event held at State Guest House Padma.
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