NTAC recommends fourth dose of Covid vaccine

The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 has recommended the fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine for the frontline fighters, expected mothers and people aged over 60 years.

Shamsul Hoque, member secretary of the vaccine deployment committee of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), disclosed the decision during a press conference held at the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) centre in Mohakhali area of Dhaka on Wednesday.

“We have an adequate stock of vaccines. We will begin vaccination to frontline fighters like doctors, nurses, expected mothers and people aged over 60 years immediately in line with the government decision,” he said.

He said around 87 percent people of the country’s total population have so far been jabbed with the first dose, 73 percent with the second dose and 52 percent with the preventive third or booster dose.

The government is going to inject the fourth dose when the country is experiencing a bit of respite in both death and infection rates of the virus.

Bangladesh health authorities recorded one more death from coronavirus and 11 new cases in the last 24 hours till Tuesday morning.

With the updated data, the death toll from the virus rose to 29,433 while the caseload stood at 20,36, 567 as of Tuesday.

The daily case positivity rate stood at 0.72 percent down from yesterday’s 0.79 percent.

The mortality rate of the virus remained static at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate reached 97.51 percent.