ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday announced a two-week-long vaccination campaign to administer over 35 million jabs door to door with a focus on hard-to-reach and deprived communities amid fears that coronavirus could become a disease of poverty.
Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, Minister of State for National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said 55,000 mobile teams will carry out vaccinations at homes.
The announcement came weeks after Karachi launched a door-to-door campaign to vaccinate women, who are lagging behind men in rates of inoculation.
“We have found that a sizable population of housewives are unvaccinated, and they socialize and attend weddings without face masks,” Qasim Siraj Soomro, provincial parliamentary secretary health, told Reuters.
Today, Sultan appealed to the people to support these teams, stressing the vaccine is effective to protect them from medical complications of Covid-19 variants.
He said that with the start of the latest drive, many people who could not get the vaccine earlier will now have the opportunity to avail this facility to protect themselves from potential supply chain hurdles like admission to a hospital, oxygen issues, or other health-related problems.
“Only vaccine can protect you from all such complications. I advise country people to must go for vaccination against the virus to avoid facing more complications and hospitalization.”
He also recommended the citizenry to go for a booster six months after the second Covid-19 vaccine dose as according to the evidence available, this enhances immunity against the disease.
He added these booster shots were being provided by the government free of cost just as two previous doses.
The minister also urged the nation to fully exploit the initiative, which will not only protect them against the latest Omicron variant but ensure protection from other restrictions such as wearing of masks etc.
He said the only option to avoid carrying this disease and living a normal life was ensuring vaccination.
Sultan said the vaccination against Covid-19 entered its second year while the government was facing several challenges in fighting against the disease first identified in Pakistan in March 2020.
He said the government was making all-out efforts to ensure the availability of the vaccines at all centres. He said that a large number of people have been vaccinated in the country.
He advised to strictly follow Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) in offices and markets to prevent the spread of disease.
He said that the pandemic is a deadly disease but we can control it just as we controlled the earlier waves by following the guidelines. He said the government is seeking full cooperation in adhering to the SoPs.
“We can save precious lives including those of our near and dear ones by taking preventive measures. Wear a mask, maintain social distance, wash hands with soap frequently and avoid crowded places,” he said.
