Children aged 5-12 to be vaccinated by June: Health Minister

The government has taken steps to vaccinate children aged between five and 12 against Covid-19 by June, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Friday.

A special kind of (Pfizer) vaccine has been developed for the children. About two crore children will be vaccinated under this drive, said the minister at an Iftar mahfil in Manikganj Sadar Upazila.

Birth certificate is required to register for Covid vaccine for the children, he said.

The minister also urged the parents to register the birth of children from 5 to 12 years, so that there is no problem to get vaccinated.

“We have already got the approval of the World Health Organization," he said.

The minister also said, “We have ordered for two crore covid vaccines in this regard. We have already received 30 lakh vaccines.”

The health minister further said that Bangladesh is one of the countries in the world where about 75 per cent of the population has been vaccinated, 95 per cent of the targeted population.

For the success in mass vaccination against Covid-19, the prime minister has become a vaccine hero earlier and this time he has been declared as the vaccine champion.

“We have so far administered about 25 crore doses. We are now administering booster doses. Those who have not jabbed with booster doses, get that quickly.”

Regarding the fourth wave of the pandemic, the health minister said, “Most people in our country have been vaccinated, so the fourth wave will not affect our country that way.”

Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is the only vaccine authorized or approved for children ages 5 through 17 years. Children and teens need two doses of a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).