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

The health minister made the announcement while receiving around 80 lakh doses of Oxford-Astrazeneca's vaccines from Japan and the UK, under the Covax programme, at an event in Dhaka.

Earlier on Monday, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed her government to complete preparations to start administering booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

The World Health Organization, on the other hand, has urged the countries to vaccinate the unvaccinated population first before doling out booster doses.

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito handed over 40.08 lakh Oxford-AstraZeneca shots to Zahid Maleque while the UK High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton-Dickson handed over 40.55 lakh doses of the same vaccine at the event.

Lokman Hossain Miah, senior secretary of the health ministry, country representative of the Unicef Shelden Yet and officials from the foreign ministry and the respective embassies were present.