Govt starts administering second booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh

The government started administering the fourth dose (second booster) of Covid-19 vaccine Tuesday.

Professor Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general (ADG) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), inaugurated the campaign at 9:30 am at Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka.

The government has taken the initiative to administer a fourth dose against Covid-19 as the antibody from the vaccine doesn’t last long, said Ahmedul Kabir.

“Our aim is to vaccinate 80 lakh people in five categories at the moment though four crore people are eligible to receive the fourth dose in the country. Already 460 people have received the fourth dose on a trial basis,” he said.

The priority will be given to frontline workers and pregnant women, he added.

Shamsul Haque, DGHS director of the vaccine campaign, said 150 million people got the first dose, 120 million the second dose, and 65 million the third dose of vaccine against Covid-19.

“Still there are 133,000 doses of vaccine in stock and will bring more after administering those. There are 115 million people aged above 18 years and all will get vaccinated with the second booster dose in phases,” he added.

According to an earlier announcement, the fourth dose will be given at seven centres in the beginning. One hundred people will be vaccinated at each designated centre and they will be kept under observation for two weeks, said the ADG. All citizens having health risks will be vaccinated with the second booster dose from 1 January next year.