ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to prioritise giving the Pfizer vaccine to citizens intending to go for Hajj, those who have a work visa and students planning to go to educational institutions in such countries that did not recognise vaccination certificates of Chinese vaccines.
Talking to journalists in Islamabad today (Thursday), Federal Minister Asad Umar asserted that Pakistan had received a limited quantity of Pfizer this month and therefore, preference for its administration had to be given to some segments.
“Countries that are not accepting vaccination certificates of Chinese vaccines would turn out to be a problem for the entire world if a decision was not taken on the issue at the global level,” the minister warned.
He also pointed out that Chinese COVID-19 vaccines were the most exported brands in the world at present. “If every country makes it mandatory for visitors to be inoculated by their choice of vaccine brands, the entire world would suffer,” he added.
The federal minister further said that the government was working hard to expedite the vaccination process across the country so that restrictions are lifted and businesses are resumed.
He announced that the government is launching a mass vaccination campaign and planned to establish 4,000 vaccination centres across the country. Asad Umar added that teachers and school staff were being vaccinated at a rapid pace in the country.
“The ratio of registrations for vaccination to the city’s population is the highest in Islamabad, and so is the number of inoculated persons,” he said, urging other city authorities to further pace up vaccination.
The first shipment of 106,000 doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 mRNA vaccine has already arrived through COVAX, while authorities are also planning to procure ‘one to two million doses’ of mRNA vaccine directly from the manufacturer through the National Disaster Management Authority.
