Bangladesh rolls out 4th dose of COVID vaccine

The second booster shot is necessary as antibodies against COVID-19 do not last for very long, a DGHS official said

Bangladesh has started administering the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine across the country.

The inoculation programme was launched at the Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka on Monday by Dr Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general at the Directorate General of Health Services.

Antibodies for COVID-19 do not remain in the body for extended periods of time and so the government has taken the initiative to distribute the fourth dose of the vaccine to shore up immunity, Dr Kabir said.

“Nearly 40 million people across the country are eligible to receive the vaccine,” he said. “But the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine is currently going out to people over the age of 60, people aged 18 and up suffering from chronic illnesses, people who suffer from diminished immunity, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, and those designated as frontline fighters.”

So far, 150 million people across Bangladesh have received the first dose of the vaccine, 125 million have received the second dose, and 65 million have received the booster shot, according to Dr Md Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the COVID-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce Committee, who was present at the event.

The DGHS still has 13.3 million doses of the vaccine in stock and more doses are on the way.

“We don’t have any issue with the vaccine stock. There are 115 million people over the age of 18 in the country and we will give the second booster dose (fourth dose) to everyone.”

The time gap between the first and second booster shots will be four months.

Bangladesh administered its first COVID vaccine dose on Feb 7, 2021. The second dose of the coronavirus vaccine was administered two months later on Apr 8. The health directorate launched the COVID vaccine booster drive on Dec 28.