LAHORE: The Primary and Secondary Health Department on Monday suspended 18 officials found charging people for government-sponsored Covid-19 vaccination doses.
The vaccine is being provided free of cost at all public facilities and the said officials were caught accepting bribes to allow customers to jump the queue at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI).
The employees were served show-cause notices and were suspended after confirmation of the charges. They include Nawaz Joban, Sajjad Ali, Muhammad Tanvir, Babar Ali, Karamat Ali, Amjad Ali, Taimur Fayyaz, Muhammad Yousuf, Faqir Hussain, and others.
The federal government is providing vaccines to the province free of cost.
The novel coronavirus claimed 74 lives across Pakistan during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 19,617, said National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).