Health Minister reiterates 12-17 year olds will be vaccinated upon recommendation from WHO, technical committee

Health Minister Zahed Maleque today reiterated that upon recommendations from WHO and Covid-19 Technical Committee of the country, the government will administer vaccine to children and adolescents -- aged between 12 and 17 years.

"We'll require a huge number of vaccines as there's a large part of the population in that age group [12-17 years]," he said.

The health minister also said that the ministry will get a total of 2.5 crore doses of vaccine by the end of this month.

He was talking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat this morning.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined the meeting virtually from Gono Bhaban.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) yesterday stated that there was no plan yet to vaccinate under 18 individuals against Covid-19.

Dr Md Shamsul Haque, secretary general of Covid-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce Committee, said, "The national committee will make a decision on the matter after the government considers it. We will notify everyone as soon as possible."