The government is finalising plans to inoculate about 10 million children aged between 12 and 17 with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said, reports bdnews24.com.
Three million vaccine doses will be administered in the first phase, Maleque said as he launched vaccination efforts for children at the Colonel Malek Medical College Hospital in Manikganj on Thursday.
“Vaccination for children will continue at 21 centres across the country in several phases. Six million shots of the Pfizer vaccine are available right now in Bangladesh. A major event will be held during the launch of the vaccination drive in Dhaka.”
The government administered the Covid shots to children for the first time on Thursday as part of a trial aimed at keeping school-going children safe from the coronavirus pandemic.
As many as 120 ninth and tenth graders from four schools in Manikganj received the vaccine on the first day of the trial run. They completed their registration for vaccines through their birth registrations.
The students were kept under observation after receiving the vaccine. No side effects were reported among the vaccine recipients.
