Citizens aged above 60 to get 4th dose of Covid vaccine: Health minister

Citizens aged above 60 will get the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine, health minister Zahid Maleque on said Monday, reports UNB.

Prime minister Shiekh Hasina approved it and people can get vaccinated during the ongoing seven-day campaign from any vaccination centre, the minister told reporters at the Secretariat.

“Around 98 per cent of the adult people have administered Covid-19 vaccine. Besides, students are also being administered with the vaccine,” health minister Zahid Maleque.

So far, 140 million people have been vaccinated with the first dose while more than 120 million people with the second dose and 60 million with the booster dose against Covid-19, he added.

Earlier, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended administering the fourth dose of Covid vaccine to contain the further spread of the virus, said Shamsul Haque, director of the vaccination programme of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), on 30 November.

It recommended bringing front liners, citizens aged above 60 and the pregnant women under the fourth dose vaccination progamme in the first phase, he said.

The seven-day special vaccination campaign against Covid-19 was launched on 1 December and will end 7 December.

Around 9 million people will be vaccinated under this campaign where 17,116 teams will provide the service.