Special vaccination drive against Covid-19 from today
The District Health Authority (DHA) will start the third 15-day vaccination campaign against the coronavirus in the garrison city from Tuesday (today)
During the special campaign dubbed as reach every door (RED) first, second doses and booster doses will be given to more than 600,000 people.
The DHA will also launch an awareness campaign of the importance of using masks, social distancing and avoiding mingling with the crowd.
According to health officials, the coronavirus positive ratio has reached 18 per cent in the Rawalpindi district.
The number of patients undergoing treatment at the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and Kidney Transplant and the Benazir Bhutto Hospital has risen to 72 including 14 in critical condition. The number of home isolated positive patients has exceeded 2,500.
According to health officials, four coronavirus patients died in the Rawalpindi district during the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 1,239 in the whole district.
According to Rawalpindi District Health Officer Dr Ehsan Ghani, DHA teams will reach every home and vaccinate people at their doorstep during the RED campaign. According to the plan, he said, 30,000 people will be given the first dose, 15,000 people the second dose and the rest will be given the booster dose.
Dr Ehsan said that 47,000 people will be vaccinated on a daily basis across the district and more than 600,000 people will be vaccinated against coronavirus during the special drive.
He said that movement in areas with a high percentage of coronavirus patients was being restricted under a micro lockdown.
He said that smart lockdown will also be imposed if required in the second phase.
The DHO said that the micro lockdown could be effective to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Health experts have urged the citizens to take extreme precautionary measures to avoid being contracted by the fifth wave of the coronavirus commonly known as the Omicron variant.
Read: "Active Covid cases top 100,000"
Four marriage halls sealed
Assistant Commissioner (AC) Cantt, Anisha Hisham has sealed four marriage halls in Rawalpindi Cantonment Board area for holding indoor events. According to a district administration spokesman, the AC conducted raids on Sunday night and also imposed fines amounting to Rs200,000 on the violators. Four halls including Asad Marriage Hall, Askari Marriage Hall on Misryal Road and Askari Wedding Hall and Zarin Marriage Hall in Dhok Syedan area were sealed during the operation conducted to check the implementation of the SOPs.
The AC took action in accordance with the law and sealed the halls as the wedding ceremonies were going on and the SOPs were not being enforced.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2022.