News Desk :
Bangladesh is set to start administering second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from March 25, following the government decision to administer them eight weeks after the first shot.
DGHS Director (Disease Control) and spokesperson Dr Nazmul Islam told media that they are counting the eight weeks to the start of the second dose phase from January 28, when 541 health professionals received their first shots as part of a dry run of the nationwide vaccination campaign.
This is the second time health authorities have changed their mind on when to start administering second doses. The initial plan was to administer them eight weeks after the first dose, but this was changed to four weeks and has now been reverted to the original.
Some of the seven million vaccine doses Bangladesh have so far received from India will expire on April 24 and the rest on June 3, as the batches were manufactured on different dates.
The government was considering cutting down the interval between doses out of fear that the second official shipment would not arrive on time, and because of insufficient public response prior to the start of the nationwide vaccination campaign, DGHS Director General ABM Khurshid Alam has said.
“We have now received guarantees on receiving the next shipment of the vaccine and we have also been advised to keep 8-12 weeks between doses, so we are sticking with 8 weeks,” he added.
The Word Health Organization on February 10 suggested an interval of 8-12 weeks between doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Subsequently, the government sought the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NiTAC) and the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 (NTAC).
