The government will start administering the fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from December 20 on trial basis, said Professor Dr Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general (ADG) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fourth dose will be given at seven centres in the beginning, he said at a press conference on the fourth dose at the DGHS.
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 fourth dose from January 1 next year, he added.
On Monday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said citizens aged above 60 will get the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine first.
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 Dr Shamsul Haque, director of the vaccination program of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), on November 30.
It recommended bringing front liners, citizens aged above 60 and pregnant women under the fourth dose vaccination programme in the first phase, he said.
According to DGHS, some 148,768,488 people received the first dose among them 126,286,114 people received the second dose. Besides, some 63,394,294 people have received their first booster dose or third dose till Tuesday evening in the country.
