Brasilia, Jun 3 (IANS): The Brazilian government plans to approve the application of the second booster dose against Covid-19 for people aged above 50 years, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said.

"The second booster dose was authorised for those over 60 years old (in May), and will be extended to those over 50," he told the press from Brasilia on Thursday, adding that details will be released in a technical note.

In approving the second booster dose, the Health Ministry recommended that it be administered four months after the first vaccine dose, Xinhua news agency reported.

This comes at a time when the South American country is registering an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalisations, while states and municipalities are once again urging the use of masks in closed spaces.

To date, 166.1 million people (77.4 per cent of the population) in Brazil are fully vaccinated, while almost 93 million have received at least one booster dose and 3.5 million two booster doses.