India today acknowledged that Omicron has become the dominant circulating variant of Covid-19, replacing Delta strain in the country.

Covid-19 booster shots can be taken from any vaccination centre in any district, if the recipient is currently living somewhere else, far away from their designated vaccination centre, said a Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) circular today.

An estimated 40 lakh children in the 15-18 age group were vaccinated yesterday against Covid-19 on the first day in India as the country expanded the ambit of its inoculation to include children against the infection amidst a surge in daily fresh cases in New Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of a third dose of the Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years, and narrowed the time for all booster shots by a month to five months after the primary doses.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque today said people will have to show Covid-19 vaccination certificate to eat meals in restaurant.

People, of any age, with comorbidity or multiple health conditions can take booster shots of Covid-19 vaccine even if they do not receive confirmation SMS, Prof Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, director general of the health directorate, said today.

Thousands of teenagers, many accompanied by their relatives, lined up outside schools and health facilities across India today as the country began vaccinating children aged 15-18 years for the first time amid a surge of Covid cases.

A consignment of 24.91 lakh doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccines arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from the United States today.

India will begin vaccinating children -- between the ages of 15 and 18 -- against Covid-19 for the first time from tomorrow amidst a surge in Covid-19 infections, including the fast-spreading Omicron, in several parts of the country.

With a target to inoculate 3.32 crore people with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, the government launched a special vaccination campaign yesterday.

Vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from COVID-19, slow transmission, and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic raging throughout the best part of 2021, Bangladesh had to tackle myriad challenges to ensure vaccines for its citizens.

Three more cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected as the new infections continued to rise for the sixth day yesterday.

South Africa, where the Omicron variant was detected in November, said Thursday that the country's latest coronavirus wave had likely passed its peak without a significant increase in deaths and that restrictions would be eased.

The government will launch a countrywide special campaign up to ward level tomorrow to inoculate around three crore people with Covid-19 vaccines.

The country recorded a spike in daily Covid cases as the health directorate logged 495 new infections in 24 hours preceding 8:00am yesterday.

Bangladesh will administer 4 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses every month from January, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday.

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the Indian capital in the last few days, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain today pointed out that many international travellers, who tested negative at the airport, are testing positive a few days later and infecting their family members during the period.

The health directorate yesterday launched the campaign for administering Covid-19 vaccine booster doses “on a limited scale” in Dhaka.

India has approved Merck’s Covid-19 pill and two more vaccines for emergency use as the world’s second most populous country braces for a possible spike in coronavirus cases due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.