Bangladesh lowers age limit for booster doses to 40 years

Bangladesh will give COVID-19 vaccine shots to everyone aged 12 or older and booster shots of the vaccine to anyone 40 years and up, says Health Minister Zahid Maleque, bdnews24.com reports.

People over the age of 12 will be able to register through the regular system, the minister said at a press conference at the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons in Dhaka’s Mohakhali on Sunday.

If they are unable to register themselves, they can proceed to a vaccination centre with their birth certificates as well, he said.

“We are currently giving vaccines to students aged 12 and above,” he said. “This will be open to all.”

Third vaccine doses, also known as booster doses, will also be given to people over the age of 40 from Sunday, he said.

“We launched the booster dose programme by giving the shots to citizens over the age of 60,” the health minister said. “The age limit was later lowered to 50, but not too many people were able to make use of the booster programme. As such, we are lowering the age limit even further. We have enough in stock to give out these booster doses.