Punjab to open more vaccine centres

About 20k people visit 126 facilities daily for inoculation

LAHORE:

Around 20,000 citizens are receiving Covid-19 vaccines doses daily at 126 centres established by the Punjab government in all the districts of the province, The Express Tribune has learnt.

In Lahore, two facilities at the Expo Centre and Minar-e-Pakistan are serving about 2,000 citizens daily.

 The provincial government also plans to open more vaccination centres in the big cities, including one at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute in Lahore.

 The vaccination centres across the province remained open on Sunday and thousands of people visited them for inoculation. Medical teams are providing the vaccination service at the 126 centres operating in the province.

 According to sources in the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, at least 218,396 doses of the vaccine are still available at the centres and there is no shortage.

At Lahore's two vaccination centres, around 75,000 vaccine doses are available and around 2,000 citizens are being inoculated daily.

 The sources said the Punjab government will import more vaccines soon. Around 20,000 vaccine doses are also available in the provincial stock to ensure that no shortage is caused as a result of mismanagement, theft or expiry.

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"We are starting the third phase of vaccination in the province and registration of citizens above 50 years of age is under way. In the first phase, we started vaccination of the front line health workers and the second dose of the vaccine is currently being administered to them,” said a senior officer of the health department.

In the second phase, the department started vaccination of people aged above 60 who are now receiving the second dose in all the districts, the officer added. The vaccination centres are serving both the front line health workers and the citizens.

Around 130,500 healthcare workers in the province have received the first dose and about 68,000 the second dose of the vaccine.

In addition, at least 205,043 citizens above 60 years of age have got the first dose and around 7,000 the second dose, the officer said.

The health department’s spokesperson Sayed Hamad Raza said, “Our target is to vaccinate 20,000 people in the province daily.

It will take time to complete the vaccination and till that time precautionary measures and implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) is the best remedy as coronavirus is at its peak in the province.”

He said the provincial government and health department were committed to protecting the people from the pandemic and they were making all possible efforts to fulfill the responsibility.

Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Sara Aslam said the government’s vaccination campaign was progressing successfully at all the centres set up for the purpose.

 “All citizens are requested to register their names for the vaccination. Punjab government has sufficient vaccine and we are providing maximum facilities to the citizens in this regard,” she added.

She said the government had launched an ambulance service for vaccinating people with special needs and those above 80 years of age.

 The provincial secretary said the health department’s teams were also visiting the homes of people requiring the vaccine and unable to travel. She said information regarding the vaccination for the citizens was available at helpline 1033.