40% people got first dose of anti-Covid jabs: official

Health secretary says at least 24% eligible population of Sindh fully vaccinated

KARACHI:

At least 13.759 million people in the province have received the first dose of the vaccine for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) while 8.2 million people have been fully vaccinated in the province so far, Health Secretary Kazim Jatoi said on Thursday.

Referring to the vaccination campaign, Jatoi said, “So far 40 per cent of the population eligible for Covid-19 vaccination have received their first dose, while 24 per cent have been fully vaccinated.”

He was briefing a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah at Sindh Secretariat on Thursday.

Officials of the health department briefed the meeting about the vaccination campaign in the province, particularly at the educational institutions.

School education department officials informed that so far, 132,000 students have been vaccinated in Sindh schools.

College Education Secretary Khalid Haider Shah said that 65,000 college students of the province have also been vaccinated and now all the newcomers are also being vaccinated.

The deputy commissioners of various districts said that the education department should ensure the attendance of students in schools so that they can be vaccinated.

In the meeting, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah said that vaccination should be made compulsory for private educational institutions too.

He directed all deputy commissioners to achieve their vaccination targets.

Shah said that a door-to-door campaign should be started and the target of vaccination should be met in any case.

Flour price

The meeting was briefed on the price of flour in Sindh province.

Chief secretary said that the Sindh government has fixed the ex-mill price of flour in the province at Rs54/ kg and the retail price at Rs55. He directed all deputy commissioners to ensure implementation of price announced by the government.

Shah directed the DCs to set up fair price shops in their respective districts. He said that supply of flour at fixed rates would be ensured in all cases.

Indiscriminate legal action will be taken against those who increase the price of flour bags.

Additional Chief Secretary Home Qazi Shahid Pervez, Secretary Health Kazim Jatoi, Secretary General Administration Muhammad Hanif Channa, Secretary Colleges Khalid Haider Shah, Secretary Food Abdul Haleem Sheikh And all the Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners attended the meeting.

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