PESHAWAR: The health department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will launch begin the coronavirus booster vaccination for the fully immunised people in the province tomorrow (Monday) amid a dip in deaths from the virus.
The officials said the department had so far administered first dose of coronavirus vaccine to 13 million (50 percent) of the 24.47 million targeted population above 12 years of age, while the fully vaccinated population was 12 million (40 percent).
The health department further said people above 50 years and with low immunity, health workers to be given priority. “The people, who had received Covid-19 vaccine six months ago, are eligible for booster vaccination. All immunised people will get Pfizer booster jabs regardless of the vaccines they got earlier,” an official said.
“New variants of coronavirus are emerging and the situation can become more dangerous if the people continue to ignore the need for vaccination,” he said.
The officials said the health department faced daunting the coronavirus-related challenges in many districts, where vaccination rate was very low. They said the NCOC had made vaccination mandatory and therefore, all the people would ultimately be given vaccine jabs.
“Vaccination hesitancy is a big issue. The health department is trying its best to convince the defiant population about immunisation against coronavirus for themselves and others as without getting jabs, we cannot return to normal life,” an official told a local daily.
On Saturday, the health department said in a report that a man died of coronavirus in the province, while 37 new cases of the virus were reported taking the province’s tally of deaths to 5,922 and that of cases to 181,204.
According to it, 174,678 (96 per cent) of the infected people have recovered from the virus, while the active cases in the province total 604. The department said only Peshawar, the epicentre of Covid-19, continued to record fatalities and incidence.
