KARACHI:
Apart from rampant corruption and the looming threat of climate change, perhaps the government needs to focus on procuring the coronavirus vaccine. Their incompetence regarding the matter has become rather evident. Earlier, it was reported that 1.1 million vaccine doses had been ordered from a Chinese company in an attempt to immunise 20% of the population. Now, officials claim that Pakistan has not yet placed any order owing to the fact that the Chinese vaccine has a 50.8% success ratio.
Other countries, on the other hand, remain miles ahead of us in the immunisation race. In November, Bangladesh signed an agreement worth around $87 million for the purpose of acquiring 30 million doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine. Another of our neighbours, India, has also launched one of the biggest vaccination campaigns with the aim of immunising 1.3 billion people — out of which 5.65 million have already been delivered. It seems that the concerned authorities in our country are waiting for a miracle to happen as they are least bothered about it. Even though the government has been able to raise a $150 million vaccine budget, no preparations have been made with regard to handling, transporting and distributing the vaccine within a controlled environment. In such an unprecedented situation, the federal government must keep internal politics aside and chalk out a programme with the help and collaboration of all provinces and relevant stakeholders.
In the future, it may very well be the case that those countries whose citizens haven’t been properly vaccinated may be restricted from travelling to those that have achieved herd immunisation. Therefore, I urge the federal government to take necessary measures in order to save the lives of the people.
Aftab Jamali
Larkana
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
