Tag: COVID vaccine

  • ‘Vaccination registrations for all ages to open after Eid’

    Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has announced that the government plans to open registrations for COVID-19 vaccination for citizens of all age groups after Eid, which is around mid-May.

    According to a report in Gulf News, the minister made these remarks while talking to senior media persons in a press meet. He also said that Pakistan will be able to vaccinate more than 125,000 people per day after Eid.

    “We began a phase-wise approach at the beginning [and are expanding it now],” said Umar during the meeting, adding that the coming five to six weeks are very critical for Pakistan in the fight against coronavirus.

    The minister said that the private sector had also started vaccinations and so far 14,000 people have been vaccinated through that, while 1.1 million were inoculated as part of the government campaign.

    Umar also relayed that China was Pakistan’s “primary source” for vaccination and that the CanSino vaccine would also be available in the country after Eid.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan is all set to start manufacturing the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V locally in collaboration with Russia in the coming months.

    Vaccinations of people 60 and above commenced on March 10, while registrations for people above 50 started from March 30.

    Pakistan is currently battling with its third wave of COVID-19. According to the NCOC, Pakistan has recorded 5312 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and 105 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

  • Police arrest two suspects for selling fake COVID-19 vaccine in KP

    Police arrest two suspects for selling fake COVID-19 vaccine in KP

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday claimed to have detained two suspects for selling fake COVID-19 vaccine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    As per reports, FIA’s Deputy Director Abdur Rehman, during the hearing of a case relating to COVID-19 vaccine price at Peshawar High Court, said that they have recovered a huge quantity of fake medicines and coronavirus vaccine from their possession.

    Rehman told the court that the investigation agency also traced a factory manufacturing fake COVID-19 vaccine and other medicines used for the deadly disease in Lahore. The deputy director added that relevant authorities had already left for Lahore to seal the facilities.

    Meanwhile, last year in March, the police had arrested an alleged doctor selling a COVID-19 vaccine. According to details, police carried out a raid at a fake clinic where the doctor claimed to have COVID-19 vaccine. The police arrested him and shifted to an unknown place for an investigation into the matter.

    According to SSP South, the man arrested was a dentist by profession and was identified as Dr Dedar.

    “He is booked under various sections of Pakistan Penal Code for fooling people,” the officer had said.

  • Iffat Omar promises to get 10 people vaccinated

    Iffat Omar promises to get 10 people vaccinated

    Iffat Omar has promised to get 10 people vaccinated after jumping queue to get vaccinated herself at Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema’s residence in Lahore. The model-turned-actor also admitted her fault and apologised for her actions after receiving a barrage of criticism and backlash.

    Responding to a social media user, Omar said that not only will she forgo the second dose, but she will also get 10 people vaccinated.

    When the user told her why he was angry over her actions, Omar said: “I regret and [am] really ashamed but I will fix it.”

    “Please accept my forgiveness,” she added.

    The model further made her intentions clear by responding to other users and asserting that she will get 10 deserving people vaccinated against the virus.

    Omar had come in the line of fire after a video of hers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Cheema’s residence went viral on social media with netizens accusing her of jumping the queue to get vaccinated when more deserving citizens still have to wait. At the time, only those aged 60 and above could avail the free vaccine under the government drive, while those aged 50 could get registered for a shot and there was no commercially available vaccine against the coronavirus in Pakistan.

    The minister had initially denied accusations of jumping queue and claimed that a team from the University of Health Sciences (UHS) had arrived at his residence to administer a ‘booster shot’ of a ‘trial vaccine’.

    The minister said the same team had earlier administered the first dose of the trial vaccine to his family at their residence.

    Meanwhile, Omar at that time had told people to “take it easy”.

    In a now-deleted tweet, the model had said that she received a booster shot of the Chinese vaccine CanSino. However, Pakistani Twitterati had called her out on the claim, pointing out that CanSino was a single-dose vaccine and does not require a booster shot.

  • Iffat Omar apologises for jumping queue to get vaccinated

    Iffat Omar apologises for jumping queue to get vaccinated

    After a barrage of criticism, Iffat Omar has admitted her fault and apologised for jumping queue to get vaccinated.

    “I am sorry. I am ashamed. I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I will repent,” wrote the model-turned-actor on Twitter.

    Omar had received harsh criticism after pictures and videos of her getting vaccinated for coronavirus went viral on social media with netizens accusing her of jumping the queue to get vaccinated when more deserving citizens still have to wait.

    At the time, only those aged 60 and above could avail the free vaccine under the government drive, while those aged 50 could get registered for a shot and there was no commercially available vaccine against the coronavirus in Pakistan.

    In the video that was widely circulated on social media, Omar was seen getting vaccinated alongside Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema and other relatives of his at the minister’s residence.

    Cheema had initially denied accusations of jumping queue and claimed that a team from the University of Health Sciences (UHS) had arrived at his residence to administer a ‘booster shot’ of a ‘trial vaccine’.

    The minister said the same team had earlier administered the first dose of the trial vaccine to his family at their residence.

    Meanwhile, Omar at that time had told people to “take it easy”.

    In a now-deleted tweet, the actor had said that she received a booster shot of the Chinese vaccine CanSino.

    However, Pakistani Twitterati had called her out on the claim, pointing out that CanSino was a single-dose vaccine and does not require a booster shot.

  • Saudi Arabia will only allow vaccinated pilgrims to perform Umrah

    Saudi Arabia has announced that only people immunised against COVID-19 will be allowed to perform the year-round Umrah pilgrimage during the month of Ramzan.

    Al Jazeera, quoting the Saudi press agency, reported: “Immune persons who [have] received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine/immune person after 14 days of receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine / immune person who has recovered from the infection will [only] be allowed to perform Umrah.”

    It further said that “Umrah permits and visit permits for the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah will increase operational capacity during the month of Ramadan, which begins next week.”

    The holy sites, which draw millions of pilgrims every year, are a key revenue earner for Saudi Arabia, which hopes to welcome 30 million pilgrims to the Kingdom annually by 2030.

  • Here’s where you can find COVID-19 vaccine in Karachi, Lahore

    Here’s where you can find COVID-19 vaccine in Karachi, Lahore

    Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is now available privately in Pakistan and people can buy it from private labs and hospitals across the country.

    AGP Pharma Managing Director Kamran Mirza told Jang that the Russian vaccine is now available for people above 18 across the country. Here’s a list of places offering the vaccine in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

    Karachi

    Vaccines are available at OMI Hospital, Ziauddin Hospital and South City Hospital in Karachi.

    The price of the vaccine has been fixed at Rs12,268 in addition to the service charges.

    Lahore

    In Lahore, people can get vaccinated at Doctors Hospital, Hameed Latif, Shaukat Khanum, Chughtai Lab. The price for two doses in Lahore is Rs12,260.

    Chughtai Lab will start online registration again when more vaccines are available. It has stopped online registration for now.

    Islamabad

    People in Islamabad can head to Shifa, IDC and Chughtai Lab for private vaccination.

    People can pre-register themselves at Shifa International Hospital’s wesbite.

    Website Link: https://www.shifa.com.pk/vaccine/

  • Mobile vaccination program launched for senior citizens in four cities

    The Government of Pakistan has launched a mobile vaccination service for senior citizens aged above 80 years and for differently-abled persons aged above 50. As per reports, the service is initially available in four cities of Punjab including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Multan.

    Read more – Lahore: 550 doses of COVID-19 vaccine go missing from one hospital, 350 spoiled at another

    The step has been taken to speed up the process of vaccination amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.

    “Senior citizens who are 80 years and above and those with disabilities over 50 years of age don’t have to leave home for the vaccine as the government vaccine vans will reach them wherever they are,” said Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid while talking about the initiative.

    Chief Minister Usman Buzdar urged people to get vaccinated and said “citizens can simply call the health helpline 1033 to get vaccinated at home.”

    Vaccinations for people over 60 years and above commenced on March 10, while registrations for people above 50 started last week on March 30.

    Meanwhile, 5234, people tested positive in the last 24 hours in Pakistan whereas, 83 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus. The positivity rate has jumped to 10.43 %.

  • CanSino vaccine: Three million doses to be ‘packed in Pakistan’

    Minister for Planning and Development and head of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar has announced that Pakistan will be getting bulk vaccine by mid-April from Cansino from which three million vaccine doses can be made.

    Read more – Govt launches COVID-19 immunization certificate portal

    Umar said the bulk vaccine received “will be formulated, sterilised and packed in Pakistan” and for this purpose special equipment has been procured and manpower is being trained.

    The Minister also said that the “first batch of Cansino vaccine procured [is] being received today (Tuesday).”

    “This is the vaccine in which Pakistan participated in Phase 3 trials, which was the first time ever that Pakistan had done so for any vaccine,” he added.

    Vaccination of people 60 and above commenced on March 10, while registrations for people above 50 started from today (March 30).

    Pakistan is currently battling with its third wave of COVID-19. According to the NCOC, Pakistan has recorded 4084 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and 100 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

  • Ignore conspiracy theories; get vaccinated!

    Prime Minister Imran Khan and First Lady Bushra Bibi tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. They are both self-isolating at home and are feeling “comfortable with mild symptoms” according to government spokespersons.

    the news of PM Imran testing positive was announced by Dr Faisal Sultan on Twitter, we saw that a lot of people started questioning the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine as the premier had just been administered the first dose two days ago.

    It also led to a lot of conspiracy theories. In a country where the anti-vaxxers have led a vicious campaign against polio drops, it is extremely crucial that these myths be busted. Thus it was good to see the Government of Pakistan’s official social media accounts as well the Ministry of National Health’s social media account give a clarification about the vaccination process.

    They tweeted that PM Imran “was not fully vaccinated when he contracted the virus”. They explained that he only got the first dose merely two days ago, which is too soon for any vaccine to become effective. They also clarified that anti-bodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose.

    We have seen the mistrust surrounding the global pandemic in our country. When the pandemic broke out, many people bought into the false theories that this was some kind of conspiracy by the west. Then we saw how many people refused to follow SOPs like wearing masks because they thought it was just a “flu”.

    It was only when a strict lockdown was imposed and when we saw deaths around the world that it was taken seriously. Luckily, Pakistan managed to control the virus after the first wave. When lockdowns were relaxed, we saw another wave, though that too was relatively controlled. Now there is a third wave and this time the UK-variant, which is said to be quite deadly, has also been found in the country. The government has started a vaccination drive for the elderly — those who are above 60 are eligible and need to register themselves to get the vaccine.

    While many people have opted to get themselves vaccinated, there is still hesitation among some. And when the PM got COVID-positive, just two days after his first vaccine dose, it led to some unbelievable theories.

    The government has so far countered the false propaganda about vaccines but it should also start countrywide awareness campaigns busting these myths.

    We hope that all those affected by coronavirus remain healthy. Our prayers are with the PM and First Lady as well as all patients. And we hope that all those who are eligible for vaccination do get vaccinated at the earliest.

  • PM Imran Khan tests positive for COVID-19

    PM Imran Khan tests positive for COVID-19

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for COVID-19.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan announced the news and said that the premier is self-isolating at home.

    Later, senior PTI leader Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that PM Khan is “experiencing mild symptoms” and “will continue to work from home over video calls”.

    PM Khan had received the first dose of his COVID-19 vaccine on March 18. Interacting with the media after receiving his shot, PM had urged everyone to get vaccinated for the virus. It is pertinent to add here that PM Imran is yet to receive the second dose of the vaccine, which will be administered to him after a month.

    The Ministry of National Health Services also clarified that PM Khan was “not fully vaccinated when he contracted the virus”.

    “He only got the first dose and merely two days ago which is too soon for any vaccine to become effective,” asserted the minister, adding: “Anti-bodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose of COVID vaccines.”

    Meanwhile, several PTI leaders including Sheikh Rasheed, Usman Buzdar and Hammad Azhar have wished the premier a swift recovery.

    Pakistan has reported 3,876 cases over the past 24 hours — the highest since July 2020.

    Wishing PM Imran Khan a swift recovery.