Vaccination halts Covid spread

Punjab govt plans to expand drive through facility to other cities after Lahore

LAHORE:

The spread of Covid-19 in Punjab is speedily decreasing with the infectivity rate in the province declining to 2.4 per cent.

According to official data, the ratio of coronavirus positive test results in Lahore has dropped to 4.7.

On the other hand, over 5.8 million people across Punjab have been vaccinated against coronavirus. The provincial government aims to increase the daily vaccination capacity to 400,000 daily by the end of next month.

The government’s various steps to vaccinate the people on a large scale, including a drive through vaccination service, are proving successful as thousands of citizens are availing the facility daily.

In addition to the drive through facility, door-to-door service, mobile units and camps, vaccination centres and departmental inoculation campaigns are initiatives of Punjab government that proved helpful to decrease coronavirus cases in the province.

The provincial government has decided to expand the drive through vaccination facility to other big cities of Punjab as, according to the health department spokesman, it has been the most successful initiative.

The decline in the rate of spread of the pandemic is being attributes to the mass vaccination campaign in the province.

Punjab government is striving hard to expand the vaccination after setting a target to vaccinate 40 million people during the current year. After launching the vaccination campaign, the provincial government implemented various plans to vaccinate maximum peoples, including door-to-door vaccination, mobile camps, vaccination centres and arrangements for employees of several departments.

However, the drive through vaccination service has been most successful since it was started by the government in Lahore two weeks ago. Officials of the health department are satisfied with the results and are now planning to launch the facility in the province’s other cities.

“At this time, drive through vaccination is popular and maximum people are getting vaccinated through this service so now we are all set to expand it. The idea of drive through vaccination surfaced during deliberations among officials in various meetings about speedy and maximum vaccination,” Punjab Health Department spokesman Sayed Hamad told The Express Tribune.

He said Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid was the most enthusiastic in this regard and it was her vision to facilitate the people seeking the vaccination, including offering the service at the doorstep.

The spokesman said Dr Rashid was the pioneer of drive through vaccination in the country.

“The facts and figures are demonstrating that we are successful as the pace of vaccination has increased at the same time as the number of coronavirus cases is declining speedily. We have increased our vaccination centres and all hospitals in the Punjab are offering the vaccination for all citizens.”

The health department has also given a deadline to all districts for the vaccination process.

An official of the department said, “We have formed task forces in all districts and are getting maximum results through them. We are planning to start drive through vaccination in all districts and we are satisfied that we are achieving our targets.”

The official said about 5.8 million people had been vaccinated in Punjab with 4,092,813 having received the first dose of the vaccine and 963,153 the second dose.

“I got the vaccine at the drive through vaccination centre and I think then facility is beneficial for the people who want to avail the service with ease and without waiting in long queues,” said Mujeeb Alam, a citizen of the provincial capital.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2021.