- PTI government’s corona vaccination plan
While Pakistan is yet to place orders to purchase a coronavirus vaccine, India began on Saturday the world’s biggest drive aimed at vaccinating more than 1.3 billion people against covid-19. An estimated 10 million health workers will be vaccinated in the first round, followed by policemen, soldiers, municipal and other front-line workers.
Health Services SAPM Dr Faisal Sultan maintains that the delay had been caused by the government’s quest for a vaccine of the highest efficacy. That Dr Sultan has promised to place the orders for the vaccine indicates the government has already concluded which one is the most efficacious. But when he says in the same breath that the government would get the vaccine from the firm which prepares it the earliest, it shows there are other considerations than efficacy that have stood in the way
A sum of $250 million has reportedly been allocated for the purchase of the vaccine. Are the funds sufficient for covering expenses over three phases of the vaccination mentioned by Dr Sultan? A former federal Health Minister has questioned if the funds had actually been released to the Health Ministry. Was the delay caused by hopes of obtaining a free vaccine from Covax? Was the government waiting for the trials of the Chinese firm Cansino which is yet to be registered with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan?
Acquiring the vaccine(s) is not enough. Even the USA faced a shortage of trained vaccinators when it came to administering the doses. Dr Sultan has concluded the total vaccineable population is 70 million, that has to be immunized by the end of this year. This requires tens of thousands of trained vaccination personnel. When is the government going to hire and train the required health workers?
The vaccination of 70 million requires an app to help the government track the drive and ensure that nobody was left out. Has this been prepared? As the first phase of the vaccination is to begin presumably within two to three months, has the government started preparing the list of the first batch of the recipients, likely to comprise millions? After the 18th Amendment can such lists be prepared without consultations at the Council of Common Interests? When will the government convene its meeting besides taking the Parliament on board?
