Pfizer booster shots for all before March

● Booster roll-out to begin in November 
● Youngsters to get booster 6 months after second dose 
● Elderly, comorbidities to get it sooner
● Children above 12 likely to get only one dose of Pfizer

The Health Ministry has acquired the needed doses of the Pfizer vaccine to complete administering a booster shot to all those above the age of 20 years by March, a senior health official told Daily Mirror yesterday.

The booster Pfizer shot will be given to all those above 20, irrespective of the vaccines they have been administered with. Initially, there were reports that those who had been administered the Sinopharm vaccines will be given a third Sinopharm booster shot, but health experts dismissed these reports saying that even those who had been administered the Sinopharm would be given Pfizer as a third shot.

The Health Ministry is now gearing up to roll out the booster shots to those above the age of 60 and those with core morbidities by November and this programme will then roll out to the other categories. Health experts assured that the needed number of Pfizer vaccines to administer it to all the targeted population had been acquired and the country would not face a shortage.

Further, children above 12 years are also likely to be administered the Pfizer vaccines but will only receive one dose due to their age. The youngsters who will receive the booster shot will have to wait for six months since the date of their second dose while the elderly and those with illnesses and comorbidities will be administered the doses earlier. (JAMILA HUSAIN)