Bangladesh starts vaccine booster shot drive to ward off Omicron

Bangladesh began administering coronavirus vaccine booster shots on Tuesday as the South Asian country tries to fend off the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The country detected two Omicron cases variant in cricketers who returned home from Zimbabwe this month but has yet to see community transmission, the health ministry says.

The booster shots are being given to frontline workers and people over 60 who have taken the second dose at least six months ago, health officials said.

The booster drive started in the capital, Dhaka, while the government aims to start administering shots outside the capital soon, the officials said.

Bangladesh has administered about 132 million vaccine doses in total, with 27% of the population having had two shots.

There have been more than 1.5 million infections and 28,062 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Bangladesh since the pandemic began.