Registration for booster dose to begin at Dec-end: Health Minister

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said the registration through 'Surokkha' App for administering Covid-19 booster dose will start at the end of December after updating the app.

"The ICT ministry is working to update the app. Now the citizens above 60 and frontliners are getting the booster shot on a limited scale by showing their vaccine cards," the minister told reporters at the secretariat.

The government started administering booster doses to health workers on a trial basis in Dhaka on Sunday, he said.

Fearing the spread of the new variant, Zahid Maleque said Omicron has not yet spread in the country. "Necessary steps are being taken to check the spread of Omicron."

The Health Minister said, "People are crowding different tourist spots, including Cox's Bazar, without wearing masks. People aren't maintaining any Covid safety protocol, raising the risk of Covid infections."

The Health Ministry has asked the Deputy Commissioners and Civil Surgeons to take steps so that people across the country maintain health protocol.

Seven crore people received the first dose and 4.5 crore people have been fully vaccinated so far in Bangladesh, he said.

Bangladesh has been an example of a success story in preventing Covid surge. "Now the positivity rate has declined and it needs to be maintained. Besides, all hospitals now have adequate oxygen support."

He said Bangladesh will sign an agreement with the Maldives under which the island nation will recruit doctors and nurses from Bangladesh.