In vaccination push, Pakistani capital inoculates 55 percent residents

People register to get a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 3, 2021. (AFP/File)

• All vaccination centers in the city are running smoothly after a ‘brief interruption’ due to a temporary shortage of vaccines, says a senior health official
• The authorities say they are vaccinating elderly citizens by visiting their homes since many of them cannot come to designated immunization facilities

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal capital is pushing ahead with the COVID-19 vaccination drive, said a senior health official on Wednesday, adding that the authorities had administered shots to 55 percent of its population while aiming to immunize at least 70 percent of the city's residents by the end of August.
“All vaccination centers in the capital are running smoothly and we are administering between 10,000 and 15,000 doses to people every day,” Dr. Amjad Mehmood, a focal person at the city's COVID-19 nerve center, told Arab News.
He added that the capital territory administration had vaccinated over 600,000 people since February when the nationwide vaccination drive was launched.
The country’s federating units are lagging behind in terms of their targets due to various reasons, including vaccine hesitancy and low turnout at the designated immunization facilities.
Mehmood said all vaccination centers in the federal capital had resumed full operation after a “brief interruption” due to vaccine shortage.
“We are vaccinating elderly people at their homes since many of them cannot visit these centers due to illnesses or disabilities,” he continued. “We have succeeded in flattening the COVID-19 curve in Islamabad through vaccination.”
The South Asian nation of 220 million has procured about 18 million jabs since January from various sources, including COVAX, a global vaccine-sharing facility for developing countries led by the World Health Organization.
Pakistan has also allocated $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2022 to procure various coronavirus vaccines.
The government says it plans to inoculate 70 million people by next year. So far, Pakistan has administered more than 13.8 million doses to its citizens.
The Sindh province, which was hit hard by the recent vaccine shortage, is aiming to vaccinate at least 27.5 million people above 18 years of age by the end of the year, though it has only vaccinated 8.82 percent of its population so far, according to the official data.
Statistics shared by a provincial health department spokesperson Mehar Khursheed indicate that the daily vaccination number in Sindh has mostly remained between 60,000 and 70,000 doses.
However, the province has administered three million doses so far.
“We are aiming to vaccinate at least 200,000 people per day,” Khursheed said. “However, it will depend on consistent vaccine supplies from the federal government. Otherwise, this target [of inoculating 70 percent of population by the end of the year] is quote manageable.”