Over 62k Covid jabs administered during Multan drive

More than 62,000 people were vaccinated against coronavirus during the first two days of a door-to-door campaign in Multan district.

The campaign continued on Wednesday and will enter the fourth day on Thursday.

According to officials sources, the government had set a target of vaccinating 40 per cent of people over the age of 18 in five districts of the province, including Multan, by August 14.

In Multan district, over 16% of the population over the age of 18 has been vaccinated against the coronavirus disease. Teams had been formed to achieve the target of vaccinating 686,000 people by August 14.

On the direction of Deputy Commissioner Ali Shehzad, implementation of a 'micro-plan' for the purpose had been started.

District Health Authority CEO Dr Shoaibur Rehman Gurmani said that 62,000 people had been vaccinated in the first two two days.

On Tuesday, the second day of the campaign, 35,000 people were vaccinated against coronavirus, while the campaign continued on Wednesday.

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Punjab government had decided to launch the door-to-door coronavirus vaccination drive to achieve the target set by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) in five major cities of the province.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar earlier announced the special door-to-door vaccination drive to reach the maximum number of citizens in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan.

He directed the officials concerned to kick-start the special campaign, which will continue till August 10, to vaccinate as many citizens as possible. During the campaign, mobile teams will visit markets and commercial areas to vaccinate the shopkeepers as well as citizens.

Patients visiting hospitals and their attendants would also be vaccinated, he highlighted.

Buzdar instructed divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners to play an active and vibrant role for the success of the campaign.

The CM said he would personally monitor the campaign and the government would achieve its target of vaccination.

He underlined that vaccination was of utmost importance to stop the spread of the fourth wave of coronavirus.

Citizens can protect themselves from the virus by getting vaccinated. He appealed to citizens to get the vaccine and also follow the ptecautionary standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid and the Punjab chief secretary also jointly chaired a meeting to review the coronavirus situation in the province and preparations to kick-start the special vaccination drive.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2021.