After lowering the minimum age for a COVID-19 vaccine shot to at least 18, the government is now planning to expand the immunisation exercise further to include school-going children as educational institutions prepare to reopen.
In the case of children, the authorities will administer shots of the US-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Saturday.
Bangladesh has received several shipments of the mRNA vaccines under the COVAX platform but the government is yet to pursue any deals to purchase the doses from Pfizer or Moderna, reports bdnews24.com.
During a visit to the Tejgaon Women's High School in Dhaka on Saturday, the health minister spoke about the vaccination of school children.
"Anyone above the age of 18 can be vaccinated. However, we have seen people under this age in other countries, especially America and Britain, get vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna doses in line with the World Health Organization's guidelines," Maleque said during a visit to Tejgaon Women's High School in Dhaka.
"We will have to follow their procedure once the vaccination campaign resumes."
The minister noted that more than 80 per cent of medical students have received vaccine jabs and said, "We will bring all students, even those who are not pursuing medical education, within the ambit of the immunisation programme. Many have already been given the vaccine shot. We will be able to vaccinate everyone in phases."
A decision on vaccinating non-medical students will be taken at an inter-ministerial meeting on Sunday, according to Maleque.
The government has also taken a policy decision to buy 160 million vaccines to combat the pandemic, he said.
Bangladesh has an agreement in place to bring 60 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China over a period of three months. As part of the deal, the country will receive 20 million doses each month, according to the minister.
Maleque is hopeful of getting all the vaccines by January. "Then, all students and teachers will be vaccinated."