Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan has emphasized that the government of Pakistan needs to vaccinate 40 to 50 million people by the end of 2021.
In an interview, the SAPM on Health talked about how Pakistan handled the pandemic and the country’s Covid-19 vaccination drive. In this interview he said that there is a need to vaccinate at least 40 to 50 million people by the end of 2021.
Moreover, the government has a vaccination awareness campaign going to be launched soon, he said by adding that the mass campaign is scheduled to commence soon.
Read more: Pakistan crosses 1 million coronavirus vaccine doses mark
Furthermore, the SAPM said that external factors helped in dealing with the pandemic till a vaccine was available. This includes the fact that the population in the country is younger. He added that there were several factors like effective communication about the virus.
Dr. Faisal expressed his fear that despite the ongoing drive to vaccinate people, new variants of the virus will remain a threat in Pakistan. But in the meantime he looked hopeful that the country has seen the worse of the outbreak. “In my opinion, we may have seen the worst of it, but the next winter will tell the real story.”
Dr. Faisal said the media got the message across. Everyone had doubts in the beginning, but once the pattern was clear, the disbelief went away.
On the other hand, besides the pandemic, he revealed the other healthcare goals of current government, including healthcare delivery, eradicating preventable diseases, malnutrition, access to high-quality pharma, a quality health workforce.
Dr. Faisal further revealed how there is a shortage of nurses in Pakistan’s healthcare system, saying, “We need a million nurses.” While the doctors’ market is so saturated that many turn abroad for better prospects, the country is not creating enough nurses.
