LAHORE: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill has termed a fake vaccine entry in the name of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif a “conspiracy” to defame the nation.
Addressing a press conference, he claimed that PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz and a group of members of the Punjab Assembly had come up with the plan to defame the country’s coronavirus database.
He said the PML-N leader made Naveed, a resident of Shad Bagh, responsible for the act. He added that entire family is a supporter of the PML-N. Gill said Naveed had fled to Germany and the government would make efforts to bring him back.
He further stated that Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital, where the false entry was made, falls in the constituency of PML-N’s Imran Nazir and Chaudhry Shahbaz.
He revealed Chaudhry Shahbaz used his influence to get Adil Rafiq suspected of involvement in the case hired. He added that MPA Chaudhry Shahbaz will be answerable for it.
The special assistant said that the MPA’s social media account is filled with pictures of him posting with PML-N leader. “The cancer of corruption has spread to every institution,” he added.
“PML-N had a plan in place under which they got their own people appointed in institutions, the special assistant alleged, adding that Indian media highlighted the issue to malign Pakistan.
A fake coronavirus vaccine entry was made in the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) using Nawaz Sharif’s name at the Government Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital in Lahore.
As per the fake entry, Nawaz, who is currently in London, got his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac at the hospital.
The Punjab government has suspended the Medical Superintendent (MS) and a senior doctor of the hospital in relation to the fake vaccine entry. The suspended officers were directed to report to the health department immediately. A case was registered against three other hospital employees, two of which were arrested.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the police have registered separate cases. The FIA cybercrime wing said watchman Abul Hassan and ward boy Adil used the ID of a third employee, Naveed, to enter former prime minister Nawaz’s fake entry into the system.
Police have registered cases against the three suspects and arrested Abul Hassan and Adil. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has summoned the Punjab health secretary to Islamabad in response to the development.
Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar has summoned a report over the incident, highlighting lapses in the hospital’s monitoring and supervision systems. the report that no senior staff was deployed at the health facility and the management had authorised lower-level staff to update the record.
Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department took notice of the incident and wrote a letter to the FIA to investigate the matter and take necessary action against the culprits.
