The nationwide mass Covid-19 vaccination program, which had been scheduled for a week from Saturday, will now take place for just one day on Saturday.
The government has changed its planned campaign, which was set to happen between August 7 and 12, citing manpower and vaccine crisis as reasons, according to media reports.
"The inoculation will instead be held on August 7 only. Then it will resume under a new campaign after a seven-day break," Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Director General Prof ABM Khurshid Alam told The Business Standard on Thursday.
"The nationwide mass vaccination program is likely to resume again from August 14," he added.
The decision was made at a high-level meeting on Wednesday, according to the DGHS chief.
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First dose of vaccines will be administered in a single session in 15,287 wards throughout unions, municipalities, and city corporations on Saturday.
The DGHS chief also said that the immunization processes that are currently in place will continue.
Currently the age limit for vaccination is 25. From Saturday, anyone at least 18 years old will be able to walk into a designated vaccination centre and get the jab by producing national identity cards.
Bangladesh has recorded nearly 1.31 million coronavirus infections and 21,638 fatalities since the pandemic began.
The country had launched its nationwide vaccination program on February 7. More than 14 million doses of four types of vaccines have been administered as of now, including the first and second doses.
