111 new vaccination centres planned in Lahore

To arrest the spread of coronavirus and to expedite the vaccination campaign, the Punjab Health Department has decided to increase the number of coronavirus vaccination centres from 135 to 246, including mobile vaccination facility.

The plan for setting up 111 new vaccination centres was presented at a meeting held to review the situation of coronavirus, at the Civil Secretariat on Thursday. The meeting also accorded approval to hire paramedics, vaccinators and data entry operators on an urgent basis for the said vaccination centres. According to an official, around 40,000 people were being vaccinated daily in Punjab, which the government wants to increase to 80,000 vaccinations a day in the coming days.

Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja, Provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid, the Chief Secretary Punjab and senior civil and military officials attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed the facilities for corona patients, supply of oxygen in hospitals, and implementation of SOPs. The meeting also considered the proposal for setting up of mobile vaccination centres.

Addressing the meeting, Raja said that the protection of the health and lives of the people is the top priority of the government. He said violation of SOPs in cities with a rate of more than 8% would not be tolerated in any case. He directed the industries department to extend full support to the health department for uninterrupted supply of oxygen at hospitals.

Provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid said that the vaccination process is underway at a fast pace in the province and so far more than one million people have been vaccinated.

He said that the number of vaccination centres is being increased for the convenience of the citizens and the capacity of daily vaccination would be doubled in the coming days. He said that helpline 99211136 has been set up to guide the public regarding the availability of beds in the hospitals. For information regarding the availability of beds, Rescue 1122 could also be contacted.

The Punjab chief secretary directed the divisional commissioners to strictly enforce the closing hours of markets and bazaars and other precautions to contain the spread of the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2021.