Nearly 1m inoculated against Covid in K-P

Around 949,121 people have been vaccinated successfully against Covid-19 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) so far.

The province has crossed the threshold of vaccinating 100,000 people daily. According to a report released by the K-P Health Department, 325,143 people have been administered the second dose of Sinopharm vaccine. Similarly, around 712,730 people have received the first dose of Sinopharm vaccine so far. Around 2,294,601 people have received first dose of Sinovac vaccine and around 397,356 people have completed two doses. Another 21,902 people have been inoculated with Cansino vaccine.

As far as the European vaccines are concerned, around 153,713 people have been vaccinated with Astrazeneca’s first dose. Another 23,085 people have received both the doses of this vaccine.

Around 50,466 people have received the initial dose of Pakvac. For those who travel abroad, 3,792 people have received first dose of Pfizer and around 1,504 have been administered both doses.

In addition to this, around 1,530,223 people have received the first dose of Moderna vaccine in the province while only 32 people have received the second dose.

A door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination drive has been launched in five most-effected districts of K-P.

The campaign in Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Mansehra and Abbottabad will continue till August 10.

The health department had sent written directives to the five districts and a deputy director was assigned the task to monitor the whole process.

Dr Omar Faisal for Peshawar, Dr Mushtaq for Mardan, Dr Asad Ali for Swat, Dr Makhdoom Safdar for Abbottabad and Dr Khaliur Rehman for Mansehra are monitoring the process.

The health department said that medical technicians and qualified lady health workers are participating in the door-to-door vaccination drive in all the districts.

In the first phase, these districts had been selected because of their high positivity ratio while in the next stage, other districts will be included in the vaccination campaign.

Talking to The Express Tribune, an official of the health department said that the door-to-door vaccination campaign had started after the surfacing of highly dangerous and infectious Delta variant of Covid in the province.

Authorities are worried about the fourth wave of the infection which could lead to thousands of deaths if remained unchecked.

The government has asked the people to strictly follow the Covid-19 related standard operating procedures (SOPs) and exercise social distancing.

Smart lockdowns have been imposed in large cities across the country and district authorities have announced that no one will be allowed in their offices without vaccination. The number of vaccination centres has also increased in the far-flung districts.

“We have seen in neighbouring India that the Delta variant claimed thousands of lives and hospitals were so overcrowded that patients were dying due to lack of oxygen and other basic facilities. People should cooperate with the authorities and get themselves vaccinated during this campaign,” an official of the health department said, adding that the government was determined to take every step to save human lives and stem the spread of the Delta variant.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2021.