Govt to roll out 4th dose of Covid jabs today

The health authorities are set to scale up their vaccination activities in the country with the start of administration of the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines to the mass people today.

Some seven hundred people will get the fourth dose of the vaccine in seven centres, one hundred in each centre, according to Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Additional secretary of DGHS Prof Dr Ahmedul Kabir said administration of the fourth dose will be on trial basis and it will be confined inside Dhaka.

The seven centres are: Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Secretariat Clinic, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Kurmitola General Hospital, Government Employee Hospital and Sheikh Russell Gastroliver Hospital.

Through a circular issued on December 11, then member-secretary of vaccination deployment committee Dr Shamshul Haque, also a line director of DGHS, ensured that the people aged above 60, 18 years and older with chronic diseases, immune-compromised population, frontline fighters and pregnant women or lactating mothers — who received their third dose at least four months ago — will get the fourth dose of the Covid-19

vaccine.

The Pfizer vaccine will be administered as the fourth shot. SMS regarding the fourth dose will be sent from vaccination centres.

Once the administration finds no negative review, a nationwide administration would be started from January 1 next year.

Earlier, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended administering the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine to contain the spread of the virus, Dr Shamsul Haque informed the media on November 30.

So far, more than 149 million people received the first dose of whom over 126 million people have received the second dose of the Covid vaccine while over 64 million have received the first booster dose till Sunday evening.