Dhaka, Oct 12 (IANS): Bangladesh aims to administer Covid-19 vaccines to nearly half of its population by next January.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday said the Bangladeshi government is working to vaccinate 80 million people by December and January, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Bangladesh's state-run news agency BSS.

The minister said the government is considering vaccinating children aged between 12 and 17 years.

Bangladesh has already announced a target of vaccinating 80 per cent of its population by 2022. The South Asian country has so far got nearly 70 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Bangladesh launched the vaccine rollout in January.

As of October 9, 36,178,946 people in Bangladesh have reportedly received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 17,940,300 were fully vaccinated.

The coronavirus infection and fatality rates have fallen significantly since August as the government bolstered inoculation drives in extensive areas to rein in Covid-19, according to Bangladesh's Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS).