Covid vaccination drive fails to achieve target

Officials hope to reach out to missing schoolchildren after winter break

RAWALPINDI:

Despite support and cooperation extended by the district administration, the ministry of health and the ministry of education could not achieve their target of vaccinating all students aged 12 and above in both public and private schools in Punjab including in Rawalpindi.

On the other hand, the administrations of nine smaller districts of the province have achieved 100 per cent of their target.

Punjab’s five major districts—Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala and Faisalabad—have reportedly fallen behind on their targets.

According to data issued by the Punjab Ministry of Education, the total number of boys in government schools is 2,205,304 while girls make up 2,131,192 of the total strength. Of these, 182,184 boys and 1848,279 girls have been vaccinated. The total percentage of vaccination among boys stands at 85%, while 87% of school-going girls have been vaccinated.

There are 992,773 boys and 946,751 girls studying in private schools across Punjab, out of which 777,309 boys and 739,764 girls were vaccinated. Overall, the vaccination rate in private schools was 78% for boys and 78% for girls.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2021.