Health Services Division Secretary Md Abdul Mannan said this to the media on Saturday while visiting Dhaka's Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University vaccination centre.

On Thursday, the government decided to halt the on-spot registration for Covid-19 vaccine following a surge of registrations at healthcare facilities.

"On-spot registration got an overwhelming response compared to online enrollment. Also, people who registered online are facing problems at the vaccination centres," Health Minister Zahid Maleque said.

"The vaccination process is getting delayed and the elderlies are suffering much. So we had to call off 'on-spot' registration."

People over 40 to get the vaccine

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday instructed the authorities concerned to lower the age limit for getting registered for the vaccine from 55 years to 40.

On February 7, the government rolled out a countrywide mass Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – acquired from India's Serum Institute – have been sent to hospitals across the country to make the drive a success.

Physicians and nurses have been trained to carry out the vaccination drive.

So far, top government officials, cabinet members, judges, policemen, along general people, have received the vaccine.

"More than 6 lakh people have been vaccinated up to now," Mannan said on Saturday.

Covid-19 in Bangladesh

Covid-19 fatalities in Bangladesh rose to 8,266 on Saturday as the health authorities recorded 13 more deaths in 24 hours until morning.

"The mortality rate is now 1.53 percent," the Directorate General of Health Services said.

Meanwhile, 291 new cases were detected, pushing the national tally to 540,266.

The daily infection rate fell to 2.26 percent while the overall rate stood at 14.09 percent.