Govt to provide free Covid-19 vaccine to masses: Dr Faisal
Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan on Wednesday said that the government will provide Covid-19 vaccine to the general public free of cost, according to Radio Pakistan.
Participating in an online workshop pertaining to health, he said that China has gifted half a million doses of the vaccine to Pakistan, which will be made available to the people free of cost from next week.
PM’s aide said that in the first phase, frontline health workers will be vaccinated, while in the second phase, senior citizens will be administered with anti-Covid medicine. He said so far 400,000 health workers have been registered for vaccination.
Speaking during an online workshop, the PM’s aide said that it is the “government’s top-most priority to provide quality healthcare to people.”
“It is crucial that we spread awareness among the masses regarding coronavirus, he said, adding that “people should follow coronavirus SOPs just like they did during the pandemic’s first wave.”
The special assistant said that China had donated 500,000 doses of the vaccine to Pakistan, while as many as 400,000 healthcare workers had already registered to get inoculated.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan may be receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the first quarter of the year under the World Health Organisation’s COVAX programme.
The global initiative signed an advance purchase agreement with the American pharmaceutical for up to 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine candidate — which has already been approved for emergency use by the global health body.
COVID-19 vaccination programme
Two days ago, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) said that provinces have almost completed the training for the medical staff for the coronavirus immunisation drive which will be held in the country.
“[The] provinces have almost completed the training of the staff of teaching hospitals, Tehsil and District Head Quarters Hospitals regarding Covid-19 vaccination for swift inoculation of the vaccine,” read the press release from NCOC.
Government officials, in a meeting at the NCOC, discussed details of the complete procedure of vaccination, its time of availability, distribution process, and most demanding areas where it can be used at the earliest. The NCOC stressed the purchase of the quality of vaccination to ensure a successful treatment of COVID-19 patients.
