Covid vaccines to arrive in Sindh by mid Jan

Initially, 125,000 health workers will be inoculated

KARACHI:

The Sindh Health Department confirmed on Friday that frontline health workers - those working in Covid-19 wards - would be administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the mid of January.

However, in the first stage of the initial phase of the trial, 125,000 of 150,000 health workers in Sindh's private and public healthcare facilities will be vaccinated. The remaining will inoculated after the arrival of the second consignment of the vaccine.

As part of the arrangements for carrying out the vaccine trial in the province, the health department has made arrangements for setting up a vaccination facility at the Expo Centre in Karachi, where 5,000 persons will be administered vaccine doses daily.

Besides, in a health department meeting headed by Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazl Pechuho, it was decided that provincial health secretary Dr Kazim Jatoi will head the coordination cell overlooking the clinical trial of the vaccine in Sindh.

According to Dr Pechuho, vaccine doses will be provided by the National Vaccine Task Force and the NCOC.

"Sindh will be given 250,000 doses by the mid of January," she said, adding that all persons vaccinated will be administered a second dose 21 days after receiving the first one.

All persons will be given a card after receiving the first dose and they will be required to carry the card while travelling, the health minister said.

Health department spokesperson Atif Hussain Vighio said all necessary arrangements for the vaccine trial have been made and at least 500 persons will be inoculated in the first hour of vaccination.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Vighio said after Karachi, vaccination will be expanded to cover health workers working in tertiary care hospitals in other cities of the province.

The data of all health workers has been compiled for the purpose, he added.

The Sindh Health Care Commission has already shared with the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) the data of health workers who will be inoculated in the first phase of the trial of a vaccine developed by Chinese CanSinoBio.

Healthcare facilities in the province have been instructed to share the data of their employees with the NCOC via the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) - an online portal- here onwards. The data, however, will be monitored by the provincial health department.

Attending an NCOC meeting on Friday, the SHCC chief executive officer requested that standard operating procedures be finalised for protection against the new strain of the coronavirus.