Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Sindh Minister of Health, has declared that by mid-January the province will receive almost 250,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr. Pechuho said that the vaccine will be made available to the province with the support of the National Vaccine Task Force and the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) while chairing a meeting on the issue.
“As revealed by Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho that around 250,000 vaccines will be supplied to the province by mid-January 2021” she said.
She suggested that two doses of the vaccine, with an interval of 21 days, would be given to a person.
“The first phase will involve public and private health sector employees,” Dr Azra said.
Around 115,000 healthcare staff and other front-line employees employed in the Sindh COVID-19 wards will be vaccinated in the first phase, followed by people over 60 years of age and others with comorbid conditions in the vaccine second phase.
The vaccine administration will be performed at the Karachi Expo Centre, where 50 cubicles will be set up for this reason, and 5,000 people will be vaccinated daily.
Individuals who are designated to be vaccinated will be notified of it through a telephone call in advance and will then collect a vaccination certificate.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, on the other hand, did not confirm the date of arrival of 1.1 million doses of vaccine that Pakistan has ordered in the initial phase.
“We are trying to get 1.1 million doses of the vaccine at the earliest but I cannot commit when the vaccine will be received. If I give a date of Jan 16, I might prove myself wrong on Jan 17. I have not heard Dr Pechuho’s statement therefore it would not be appropriate to comment on it. However, time to time we contact each other and I can surely say that she is a very competent and responsible woman,” Dr Sultan said while talking to Dawn.
