ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI: A day after receiving half a million jabs of China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, the authorities began the distribution of the vaccine simultaneously in all provinces and administrative units of the country on Wednesday.
پاکستان کی تمام اکائیاں ایک ہی وقت پر کرونا ویکسینیشن شروع کر رہے ہیں. ایک جھنڈا، ایک، ترانہ، ایک قوم. ہر زبان بولنے والا، ہر عقیدہ رکھنے والا شہری یکساں حقوق رکھتا ہے. جب بھی ہم اس طرح متحد ہوتے ہیں، کامیاب ہوتے ہیں. NCOC کی ٹیم کو اس مہم کی تیاری اور انتظام پر خصوصی مبارکباد pic.twitter.com/rO6WkBhGQL
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) February 3, 2021
As per the roll-out plan, the vaccine will first be made available to more than 400,000 doctors and frontline healthcare workers, teachers and social workers because they run the highest risk of exposure to the contagious disease.
After that, the shots will be provided to citizens over the age of 65, who generally face a higher mortality risk from the virus.
Pakistan received its first tranche of the Sinopharm jabs, given by China as a “gift”, on Tuesday. The shipment marked the first shots to be imported into the country where more than 549,032 cases of the disease have been reported since the outbreak in February last.
In addition, the government is due to receive a further 1.1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine by the end of this month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced late last month.
Separately, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan announced on Saturday that the government has secured 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine through the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX initiative. Of these, he had said, about seven million doses will be available in the first quarter of the year and the rest by the end of 2021.
Simultaneous inauguration ceremonies were held in provincial capitals and major cities of all federating units as well as in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and attended by the respective chief minister and other high-profile officials.
Ahead of the inoculations, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also chairs the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), spoke to all the federating units through video-link along with Dr Faisal.
NCOC officials were also present along with Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar while China’s Commercial Minister Xie Guoxiang was the chief guest on the occasion.
The first jab was administered to a frontline doctor in Islamabad a day earlier after Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the vaccination campaign.
HOW TO GET VACCINATED:
A step-by-step guide of NCOC’s plan to get the coronavirus vaccine is given below:
In the first step, at-risk citizens, including frontline healthcare workers, will send their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) numbers to 1166 through SMS or use National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) website for registration.
After necessary verification, designated AVC (Adult Vaccine Centre) (based on “Present Address” and PIN Code will be sent to the citizen through SMS).
If the designated AVC is outside the current tehsil of the citizen, he/she can change the designated health facility by visiting NIMS web portal or by calling the 1166 helpline within 5 days of receipt of the first SMS.
Upon availability of vaccine at the designated vaccination centre, SMS will be sent to the citizen to obtain an appointment date for vaccine administration.
After successful registration, the citizen will visit AVC on the date of appointment along with the original CNIC and received PIB Code. The vaccination staff will verify the CNIC and PIN code.
After successful verification, the citizen will be vaccinated. Upon vaccine administration, vaccination staff will enter the details in NIMS and a confirmation message will be sent to the citizen through SMS. The citizen will stay in AVC for 30 minutes for the post-inoculation monitoring.
In the last step, a real-time dashboard for the federal, provincial and district health departments will be generated automatically.
In this regard, Dr Faisal said that so far 400,000 health workers have been registered for vaccination.
‘MEDICAL WORKERS ARE REAL HEROES’:
Addressing the ceremonies on Wednesday, Asad paid tribute to the frontline health workers for their “sacrifices and meritorious services,” terming them as the “real heroes” who put their lives on the line in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
He further said that the holding of simultaneous inaugural ceremonies reflected a national effort and collaboration between the provinces and the federal government in the fight against the contagion.
In his address, Dr Faisal assured the nation of the vaccine’s efficacy saying that the drug had “been tested on thousands [of people] and has proven to be safe and effective so we don’t need to worry [about potential side-effects].”
His assurance came on the heels of concerns expressed by Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid who during a press conference on Monday said the vaccine “may have mild side effects on some people.”
“Let me tell you something about the Sinopharm vaccine,” Dr Sultan said Wednesday. “It is a good vaccine, its efficacy is between 79 to 86 per cent.”
He expressed hope that by the end of the year, the government would be able to vaccinate 70 per cent of the eligible population, which amounts to 100 million people.
He added that more than 500 vaccine centres had been established and according to the current capacity, 40,000 people can be vaccinated daily. The government was aiming to increase this number, he said.
PUNJAB:
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar was the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of the drive held in Islamabad’s Punjab House. The ceremony was also attended by Governor Chaudhry Sarwar.
پنجاب میں کورونا ویکسین لگانے کی مہم کا باقاعدہ آغاز:
وزیر اعلی پنجاب @UsmanAKBuzdar اور گورنر پنجاب @ChMSarwar نے صوبے میں کورونا ویکسین لگانے کی مہم کا افتتاح کیا
▪︎وزیر اعلی عثمان بزدار گورنر چوہدری محمد سرور کی موجودگی میں فرنٹ لائن ہیلتھ ورکرز کو کورونا ویکسین لگائی گئی pic.twitter.com/nmiyZrZs77— Government of Punjab (@GovtofPunjabPK) February 3, 2021
Speaking on the occasion, Buzdar said that the province was provided with 70,000 doses of the vaccine, which will be provided to health workers in the first phase.
More doses, he said, will be provided in the next three weeks. He added that 189 centres were established across the province to administer the jabs and more than 600 healthcare workers had been trained for this purpose.
SINDH:
In Sindh, the drive kicked off with an inauguration ceremony in Dow University Hospital, Karachi where an adult vaccination centre had been established.
The ceremony started with the administration of the vaccine on a health worker, Dr Tanveer Ahmed, and attended by provincial Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho.
The ceremony was also attended by officials of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and representatives of the Chinese consulate, Chief Minister’s House’s Twitter account said.
Karachi: (February 3rd, 2021) The Chief Minister @MuradAliShahPPP stats #Covid19 #Sinofarm #Vaccine #drive in #Sindh today at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Hospital Ojha Campus, Karachi. pic.twitter.com/R9VmA5KchJ
— CMHouseSindh (@SindhCMHouse) February 3, 2021
Speaking on the occasion, CM Murad said that Sindh had received 83,000 doses of the vaccine, all of which will be provided to frontline health workers. According to him, there are 320,000 registered healthcare workers in Sindh, out of which 180,000 were working on the frontline.
The chief minister said that in the first phase, the vaccination drive will be held in the hotspots of Karachi, Hyderabad and Shaheed Benazirabad (former Nawabshah).
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the vaccination drive started in Peshawar’s Naseerullah Babar Hospital, where the chief minister’s focal person on the pandemic Dr Asiya Asad was in attendance.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, who was in Islamabad at the time, delivered a message broadcast on state-owned television.
In his address, he said that the provincial government had received 16,000 doses of the vaccine from the federal government, which will be given to frontline health workers in KP.
About 800,000 health workers in the province have to be vaccinated, he said.
BALOCHISTAN:
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan inaugurated the programme in Quetta, thanking the federal government for providing the vaccine to the province in the initial phase.
Khan also remembered doctors and medical workers who had passed away due to Covid-19-related complications.
Balochistan president of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Dr Aftab Kakar was the first to receive the vaccine in the province.
GILGIT-BALTISTAN:
In GB, the drive began at the governor house where healthcare workers were administered the jabs. Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon was also present on the occasion along with other government officials.
NCOC officials also attended the event through video-link.
According to the region’s health department, the Centre had provided 3,000 vaccine doses to the regional government.
