This footage was filmed and produced 10 March 2021.
Pakistan launches second phase of a nationwide coronavirus vaccination drive for general public from Wednesday (March 10).
The country is beginning the second phase of the vaccination campaign as it expects to receive another half a million doses from China. Pakistan started the vaccination drive and the public response has been described as “slow and discouraging”. Only 2.25 per cent or 180,000 of an estimated 8 million senior citizens in Pakistan registered until last week. In first phase, more than 200,000 frontline health workers were vaccinated till to date.
In January, the government announced it had secured 17 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through the UN-led COVAX initiative. At least 7 million of those doses were expected to arrive by April. Pakistan’s drug regulator has approved the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm and CanSino, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines.
The health department started registration for the immunization programme from February 15 asking the citizens to send a text message at 1166 or enter their details at the national immunization management system (NIMS) website. Once registered, the eligible citizens will be informed about the vaccine center and the date of vaccination through a text message.
Name of Interviewee: Dr. Muhammad Zafar, Duty, head of the vaccine center Islamabad