Covid vaccine first dose won’t be administered after 3 Oct: Health minister

Almost 33 lakh people are yet to get the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, but the government has decided to stop administering the first dose by 3 October, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Saturday.

"Nearly 33 lakh people did not receive their first jab yet while 94 lakh people did not receive their second shot of Covid-19 vaccine across the country," he said while speaking at a workshop over Covid-19 vaccination for children, aged 5-11 years, held at a Dhaka hotel.

He also urged people, who have not taken their first Covid-19 vaccine dose yet, to take the shot as soon as possible.

"After the month of October, there is a possibility of first and second doses of Covid-19 vaccine being out of stock. If some remain, those will be expired. So, those who did not receive first, second and booster doses, have been asked to take their respective jabs immediately," said the health minister.

Currently, 2.5 lakh people are working to ensure Covid-19 vaccination and of them 60,000 are administering the vaccines, he said, adding already 30 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered across the country.

Talking about administering Covid-19 vaccine among children, Maleque said ten lakh children have received Covid-19 jabs and some 2.15 lakh children are waiting to receive the jabs.