Live Correspondent: Health Minister Zahid Maleque today said unvaccinated people, who are roaming rampantly, would be brought under vaccination coverage to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

"Nearly 2.5 crore people, who are workers of factories, transport sector and staffs of shops and small business establishments, have remained out of the vaccination programme," he told a press briefing here, an official release said.

The health minister said the government is planning to inoculate the roaming people with Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to fulfill the target of bringing all eligible people under vaccination coverage. "One shot of Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is required to complete the vaccination course," he added.

The press conference on "The current situation of COVID-19 and vaccination programme" was held at Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) at Mohakhali in the city.

Secretary of Health Service Division Lokman Hossain Mian and Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam and heads of different relevant organizations, among others, were present at the meeting.

Maleque said, "We have so far vaccinated 9.70 crore people with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 6.5 crore people were given the second dose...with booster doses, nearly 16.5 crore people received coronavirus vaccines."

Maleque said the government has lowered the minimum age limit for third time after launching the nationwide COVID-19 booster shot campaign on December 19, 2021 to scale up its efforts for containing the spread of the lethal virus.

Initially 60 years and above for elderly people was the minimum age for receiving booster dose but later the authorities has fixed the minimum age of 50 years and above on January 17, 2022, he said adding, "From now, we want to expedite the booster dose campaign through lowering minimum age to 40 years and above."

The health minister said in case of Omicron infected patients, the
government has fixed 10-days isolation instead of 14-days. On January 30 (today), Bangladesh reported 12,183 Covid-19 cases while the coronavirus claimed overnight 34 lives.

Dhaka, 30 January (campuslive24.com)//BSC