The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended booster shots to the citizens above 60 and frontliners.

The senior citizens and frontliners who got the two doses of vaccine six months ago will get the booster dose, the NTAC recommended at a meeting on Sunday.

The committee also expressed deep concern over the emergence of the new coronavirus variant ‘Omicron’.

It also suggested all to take steps to limit public gatherings, meetings and rallies to contain the spread of Omicron.

Also read: Booster dose in Bangladesh: Authorities asked to work on a precise guideline

In emergency cases, the committee said, online meetings could be arranged instead of in-presence meetings.

The committee also recommended strengthening screening, quarantine and isolation at all entry points of the country.

Bangladesh on Saturday reported the first two cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus.

On December 9, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Omicron is now present in 57 countries and asked all countries to stay alert about the new variant.

A WHO panel named the Coronavirus variant ‘Omicron’ and classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant, which is still a scourge driving higher cases of sickness and death in Europe and parts of the USA.

Amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) suggested the implementation of 15 instructions to prevent the spread of the new variant and urged all concerned to take measures to enforce the instructions.

Also read: Govt decides to administer Covid booster dose to above-60 citizens

After Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Bangladesh on January 27, the Health Ministry rolled out the inoculation drive at five government hospitals in Dhaka on January 28.