Only Covid vaccine booster dose to be provided after 3 Oct: DGHS
The ongoing vaccination programme for children aged 5-11 years will start at the district and upazila levels from 11 October
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) started a special Covid-19 vaccination campaign yesterday on occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday to vaccinate those who are yet to receive the first or second dose of it.
Only booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine will be given after the campaign that will run till 3 October, said Professor Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, director general of the DGHS, in a press briefing at the DGHS conference room Wednesday.
People receiving the first dose during the campaign will get the second dose in due time. Apart from them, no one else will get the first or second dose after 3 October, said sources at the DGHS.
Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said the World Health Organisation's approval for the fourth dose is yet to be obtained, so decisions regarding that have not been taken yet.
The DGHS director general said, "The target of vaccination in the country has already been achieved. Of the total population, 97% has received the first dose of the vaccine, 90% received the second dose, and 41% received the third or booster dose."
Regarding the decision not to provide the first or second dose after 3 October, he said, "Vaccines are in short supply. Besides, some vaccines are going to expire soon."
Asked which company's vaccine is expiring, he said, "Different types of vaccines have arrived at different times, so not all of them are expiring. Currently there are three crore doses of vaccines in store."
Dr ABM Khurshid Alam said the ongoing vaccination programme for children aged 5-11 years will start at the district and upazila levels from 11 October.
Earlier, 78 lakh people were vaccinated on the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday last year.