Booster shots: Now 4 months after the second dose
People who received the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines at least four months ago will now be allowed to receive their booster dose from centres, irrespective of whether they received an SMS in this regard, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said yesterday.
The government has reduced the gap between administrating the two doses from six months to four, he added.
The minister said this while announcing a special inoculation drive from today to administer 3.25cr vaccine jabs, marking the 102nd birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The campaign will continue till March 31, under which all eligible vaccine recipients, aged 12 and above, will receive their respective shots, the minister said.
Around two crore people will receive their second doses while 1.25cr will receive their first and booster doses during this campaign.
About whether the government has any plans to inoculate primary school students, Maleque said they would if and once the WHO recommends.
Amid the emergence of the coronavirus's Omicron variant, the government started giving booster doses on December 28.
As of yesterday, around 53 lakh people received their booster doses, while 9cr received second doses and 12.62cr first doses.
"We have administered around 22cr jabs in total. If we can give 3.25cr by March 31, the total number will reach 25cr -- higher than our target of inoculating 70 percent of the population with double-dose vaccines."
The minister also said the country is recently witnessing zero Covid-19 deaths due to the vaccination coverage.
The health directorate yesterday reported no Covid-19 deaths for the second consecutive day. The total number of new cases was 182.
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