Govt rolls out Covid-19 booster vaccine doses

The government launched its Covid-19 booster dose campaign on a trial basis in the capital on Sunday.

The booster dose is being administered at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons at Mohakhali.

Initially, the government would prioritise only the frontlines and senior citizens, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said at an event on Saturday, adding that the number of booster dose recipients would go up gradually.

“Frontliners and senior citizens, who have received their second dose at least six months ago, will get the booster shots. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccines will be used at this phase as it has been approved by the World Health Organization,” he said.

Nurse Runu Veronica Costa, who had received the first Covid-19 vaccination shot in the country, also received the first booster shot.

Health directorate chief Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Health Minister Maleque, some journalists and religious leaders also got the booster dose as well.

Earlier on December 13, the cabinet directed the authorities concerned to work on a precise guideline on the Covid booster dose in the country against the backdrop of rapid transmission of the new Omicron variant.

On December 11, the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 recommended inoculating booster jabs to people aged above 60 and frontliners.

As the protection offered by Covid-19 vaccines wanes over time, developed countries have already rolled out a three-dose regimen amid the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Researchers in the United Kingdom recently analysed the potential impact of a Covid booster shot on the Omicron variant and found it could provide around 85 per cent protection against severe illnesses.