The government will start administering Covid-19 booster shots in the next seven to 10 days, Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced yesterday.

The government will start administering booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the next 7-10 days, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque today.

Pfizer and BioNtech are set to displace AstraZeneca as the main suppliers of Covid-19 vaccines to the global COVAX programme at the start of 2022, a shift that shows the increasing importance of their shot for poorer states.

Pfizer Inc yesterday said final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination provides just 33% protection against infection by the omicron variant of the coronavirus, but 70% protection against hospitalization, according to a large-scale analysis in South Africa released Tuesday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to work on a precise guideline on the booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine amid the threat of Omicron variant and asked all to remain very careful about Omicron.

Bangladesh received 40 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the UK under the COVAX facility today.

The Cabinet today directed the authorities concerned, particularly the health minister and the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, to work on a precise guideline over the campaign of booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh.

The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 has recommended Covid-19 vaccine booster dose for frontline workers and those aged 60 and above, who have received the second jab at least six months ago.

Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have donated over 1.2 million Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh under the global Covax facility.

Work to start administering booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines to people aged 60 years and above is in full swing, with the rollout expected by early January.

BioNTech and Pfizer (PFE.N) said on Wednesday a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test and said they could deliver an upgraded vaccine in March 2022 if needed.

Up to one million Covid-19 vaccines are estimated to have expired in Nigeria last month without being used, two sources told Reuters, one of the biggest single losses of doses that shows the difficulty African nations have getting shots in arms.

Western countries’ monopolistic control over the invention, production and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines will prolong the pandemic, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.

Malaysia today provided more than half a million AstraZeneca vaccines to Bangladesh as a gesture of solidarity and support in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.

Australia's medicine regulator on Sunday provisionally approved the Pfizer Inc coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11, with the health minister saying the rollout could begin from January 10.

Six different Covid-19 vaccines administered as booster doses are safe and elicit strong immune response among people who earlier received both doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, according to a study published in the UK medical journal The Lancet.

It could take weeks before we can understand its impact.

Moderna Inc could have a COVID-19 booster shot targeting the Omicron variant tested and ready to file for US authorization as soon as March, the company's president said on Wednesday.

BioNTech and Pfizer's established Covid-19 vaccine will likely offer strong protection against any severe disease from the new Omicron virus variant, BioNTech's Chief Executive told Reuters.