Vaccination drive of inmates over 50 to begin tomorrow

KARACHI:

Prisoners over the age of 50 years will be administered coronavirus vaccines beginning April 7 (tomorrow), announced the Sindh health department on Monday.

As many as 2,532 inmates are to be vaccinated against the coronavirus under the drive.

This vaccination drive is designed to specifically benefit those who are in prison as this is a section of society that is highly vulnerable and neglected, read the statement issued by the provincial health department.

According to the statement, it was already announced on March 30, 2021, that the registration for persons over the age of 50 years would be open across the province.

In order to ensure that every vulnerable demographic receives the anti-Covid vaccine, the prisons' population cannot be ignored, stressed the health department.

According to statistics issued by the provincial health department on the day, Sindh has received 562,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and 11,000 doses on the Cansino vaccine. Of these, 428,809 of the former and 3,000 of the latter have been disbursed across various districts of the province.

The health department has 133,191 jabs of the Sinopharm vaccine and 8,000 of the single-dose Cansino vaccine in its storage.

The health department further specified that 273, 641 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine have been administered to health workers and senior citizens while five jabs of the Cansino vaccine have been administered thus far.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2021.