The Sindh government has announced to start Covid-19 vaccination of frontline healthcare workers, including doctors , paramedics, laboratory technician and Covid test collection teams deputed to conduct test at door to door from coming Wednesday in ten severely Covid-hit districts of province.
The vaccination will be started in seven districts of Karachi, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad and Jamshoro. Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah along with Parliamentary Secretary Health MPA Qasim Siraj Soomro made this announcement in press conference held at Sindh Assembly Committee Room on Friday.
The information minister stated that China was providing 5 lac doses of Sinopharm vaccine to federal government and Sindh will get 83 thousand 359 doses from it. He informed that Sindh government will receive vaccine on Sunday.
Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that Health department from its own resources has allocated Rs. 1.5 billion for the purchase of different Covid-19 vaccines, besides Sindh government has also allocated appropriate funds for procurement of vaccines but Sindh government required permission for directly procuring the vaccine.
The minister said that the Sindh chief minister has written a letter to federal government but no reply received yet. He said that a private donor group has also committed to provide Astra Zeneca and Pfizer vaccination for 20 percent population of Pakistan. He said that on the directives PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, CM Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuhu were trying hard to procure Covid vaccines so that everyone in the province could be given dose free of cost. He said that Sindh government has contacted many companies and donor agencies around the in this regard.
The minister said that in a meeting with World Bank Country Head on different projects held at the Chief Minister’s House, “we requested them support on Covid vaccine procurement”. On the occasion, the Parliamentary Secretary on Health MPA Qasim Siraj Soomro added that they have 1 lac 70 thousands frontline healthcare workers were registered with them and added that priority will be given to those working in ICU, laboratory technicians, and team members deputed to collect sample from door to door. He said that ten districts were identified on the basis of data and Covid positive ratio. He said that ratio of Covid positive cases in Karachi reached to 22 percent, 26 percent in Hyderabad and then comes district Shaheed Benazirabad.
Responding to question, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that they welcome private sector to support us in vaccination of people of Sindh on free of cost but private sector should be certified from relevant authorities. On Transparency International, the provincial minister said that Imran Khan used to wave the reports of Transparency International in past but now he himself and his ministers were saying that there was nothing in report against their tenure.
Syed Nasir Shah Said that he got it translated in Urdu and Sindhi and found nowhere that report of transparency belonged to the period earlier than 2018. Replying to another question Syed Nasir Hussain Shah added that Sindh received Rs. 70 billion less share from Federal government till date and said that the promises made with Sindh were not fulfilled.
