Covid booster shots suspended for now: DGHS

Staff Reporter :
Health authorities in Bangladesh have suspended administering third and fourth doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, from Thursday.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Additional Director General (Planning and Development) Dr Ahmedul Kabir unveiled the information at a press briefing at the DGHS headquarters in the capital on Wednesday.
“Third and fourth shots of covid-19 jab inoculation will be suspended from Thursday. The stock of Covid-19 vaccines that is being used as third and fourth doses has finished. The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will resume further once the country receives more jab supplies from abroad,” the ADG said.
He said, “These vaccines are collected through Covax. We have placed new requirement that will take three to four weeks to reach in the country.”
The campaign for administering first and second doses, however, will be continued, Dr Ahmedul Kabir added.
The DGHS official also said people were reluctant to take booster jabs, specifically the fourth dose.
“In spite of this, the stock of booster dose vaccines has run out,” he said.
Covax is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid vaccines.
“The health authorities have written to the Covax last Thursday [February 23] informing our demand for booster jabs. They usually send the vaccines within 21 days,” Dr SM Abdullah Al Murad, programme manager (EPI) at the DGHS, told journalists, earlier.
Meanwhile, sources of the DGHS said that the next consignment may reach the country within mid-March.
DGHS data showed that about 15 crore people, above 12 years, have received their first dose while 14 crore got the second shots till Tuesday.
Among those, about 6.73 crore people received their first booster dose while around 29.64 lakh received the second booster (fourth dose) in the same time.