Dhaka, Jun 1 (IANS): Bangladesh will conduct a week-long special campaign from June 4 to expedite the inoculation with Covid-19 booster doses.

People aged 18 years and above, who have received their second dose of Covid-19 vaccines at least four months earlier, will be allowed to receive a booster jab during this special campaign, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Directorate General of Health Services under the Health Ministry issued a release on Tuesday in this regard.

According to the release, people can receive the booster dose at the nearest vaccination centre from 9 a.m. every day till June 10.

It said the existing vaccination drive will continue simultaneously.

Bangladesh began its Covid-19 vaccination drive in January 2021 to contain the pandemic.

The Bangladeshi government halted administering first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine after India banned vaccine exports, and resumed in June 2021 the vaccine rollout in parts of the South Asian country with the China-donated Sinopharm vaccines.

More than half of the vaccines administered in the country were China's Sinopharm vaccines.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday that it has delivered more than 190 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh through the COVAX facility, a global initiative for equal access to vaccines led by the WHO along with several other organisations, with UNICEF as a key delivery partner.

Bangladesh remains a top recipient of vaccine doses under COVAX, it added.

According to UNICEF, COVAX accounts for more than 62 per cent of the total doses Bangladesh has received, and the country has so far fully vaccinated 69 per cent of its population.