Health chief of Pakistan’s most densely populated province denies running out of COVID-19 vaccines

Health workers inoculate people with the dose of coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Lahore, Pakistan, on May 23, 2021. (AFP)

• Dr. Yasmin Rashid says about 1.6 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been recently supplied to districts across the province
• Health authorities in Punjab will start administering AstraZeneca shots to people less than 40 years of age who want to travel abroad from June 16

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid on Tuesday denied media reports that the country’s most densely populated province was running short of COVID-19 vaccines and had taken a decision to halt its immunization campaign for two days.
“There is no vaccination shortage throughout the province,” she said after holding a meeting with senior provincial health officials. “About 1.6 million shots were recently supplied to various districts, and the deputy commissioner of Lahore has 25,000 doses with him.”
Rashid informed the provincial health authorities were inoculating over 240,000 people across the province on a daily basis.
She added the vaccination drive at district headquarter hospitals was continuing 24/7.
The provincial health minister said all deputy commissioners were directed to increase the momentum of the immunization campaign in their respective areas and do their best to meet the prescribed targets.
“People below the age of 40 who plan to travel abroad can receive AstraZeneca vaccine on the instruction of NCOC [National Command and Operation Center] at Expo Center Lahore from June 16,” Rashid continued. “All deputy commissioners in other districts have been asked to follow suit.”
She added that the provincial administration was also in possession of 13,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine which would be administered to people suffering from serious ailments on a priority basis.
Earlier in the day, Hammad Raza, a Punjab Health Department spokesperson, told Arab News there was no report of vaccination shortage in the province, adding that Punjab was in “surplus” when it came to COVID-19 jabs.
Asked about long queues outside some of the vaccination centers, he said it was only happening at facilities offering AstraZeneca vaccine.
“People who want to travel abroad usually seek AstraZeneca shots,” Raza explained. “The provincial administration was in the process of devising a proper protocol for that. Things should get better now since we have received guidelines from the federation today and no one will have to wait to get these shots in the coming days.”