ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan today (Tuesday) kicked off Pakistan’s coronavirus vaccination drive, with the first jab administered to a doctor in Islamabad.
Under the supervision of the prime minister, his adviser Dr Faisal Sultan, and National Command and Operations Centre chief Asad Umar, the first vaccine was administered in Pakistan — given to a healthcare worker in Islamabad.
“The more you abide by coronavirus safety measures, the easier it will be to protect everyone from the virus,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the ceremony to mark the launch of the drive.
The premier also congratulated his government’s health team and thanked China for donating 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Pakistan. He reiterated that the vaccine will be first administered to health workers working with COVID-19 patients, followed by the elderly people.
The premier also sought to assure the nation that the vaccine distribution across the various provinces is being done in a “just” manner. “No one should think we distributed more vaccines in a given province than in others,” he added.
Stressing the importance of healthcare workers getting the shot, the Prime Minister said that all over the world it is the healthcare workers that are most at risk. “I also wish to stress to the nation the importance of coronavirus SOPs and especially, wearing a mask,” he added.
“Our cases are at a decline right now. The more you follow SOPs, the easier it will be to save our people from coronavirus,” he said, adding, “Our economy is running and it is the service sector that has been curtailed.”
Despatch of vaccine to Sindh, Balochistan and GB will be done by air to reduce time and ensure cold chain storage temperature. Sindh will receive 8,300 doses of COVID-19 vaccine which will be transported to Karachi via a commercial flight in the evening.
A ceremony will be held at the CM House in Karachi on Wednesday to kick-start the vaccination drive in Sindh during which 41,500 healthcare workers will be vaccinated.
Pakistan has approved, among two other vaccines, the emergency use of one developed by Sinopharm, a state-run Chinese firm. According to a report, Sinopharm announced on December 30 that phase three trials of the vaccine showed that it was 79 percent effective.
