Bangladesh to begin Covid booster shots Sunday

The government is going to start administering the booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from Sunday. Priority will be given to healthcare workers and people aged over 60 who have taken the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine six months ago.

Initially, a small number of people will be given the booster shots with Pfizer vaccines and then, after a few days of observation, a larger number of people will be brought under the facility.

Dhaka District Civil Surgeon Dr Abu Hossain Md Mainul Ahsan said, "Primarily, we will start administering the booster shots to the healthcare workers. Later, the older population will receive the shots but we will surely consider their physical complications."

Health Minister Zahid Maleque will inaugurate the booster dose programme at the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) in Mohakhali.

Earlier from 7 February, the Covid-19 vaccination drive was introduced in the country. So far, some 6.74 crore people have received the first dose and 4.41 crore have received the second dose.

4 more die of Covid-19

Bangladesh has reported four more deaths from Covid-19 and 122 new cases in the last 24 hours till 8 am on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the current positivity rate dropped below 1% for the first time since 30 March last year.

The health officials recorded a 0.87% positivity rate after testing 13,971 samples across the country.

With the latest additions, the death toll reached 28,047 and the case tally increased to 15,80,872 in the country.