Covid booster dose campaign starts on June 4

A week-long special campaign for administering Covid-19 booster jabs will start countrywide on June 4, said the Directorate General of Health Services.

In a circular released yesterday, the DGHS said any second dose vaccine recipient, aged 18 and above, can get a booster jab with an interval of at least four months.

The campaign will begin at 9:00am each day and the vaccines will be administered following WHO guidelines, read the DGHS circular.

A total of 11.76 crore people received their second jabs as of yesterday. Around 1.5 crore of them have already received their booster shots, as per the DGHS data.

Contacted, a DGHS official, seeking anonymity, said, "It would be difficult to bring people to the vaccine centres [for booster doses] as the number of Covid-19 cases is now very low."

He also said the health officials already discussed the issue earlier at a meeting.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque is expected to announce the detailed plan for the special campaign soon, said officials.