Covid vaccine supplies dry up in Lahore, Karachi

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Supplies of coronavirus vaccines in several cities of Sindh and Punjab further dwindled on Friday, with Geo News reporting stock nearing depletion in Karachi and Lahore, severely curtailing the mass vaccination drive.

According to the report, of the 23 vaccination centres in Lahore, only four were administering jabs, while Bahawalnagar had no further vaccine doses. The supplies in Gujranwala were expected to dry up by Friday.

More than 40 per cent of vaccination centres in Sindh were temporarily closed, while centres in Karachi reported shortages. The Sindh Health Department said the supplies would improve after June 20.

Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, told state-run PTV on Friday that the government was making “all out efforts” for availability of Covid-19 vaccine at all vaccination centres and more doses were expected to arrive soon.

Dr Sultan said: “This issue is temporary which will be resolved soon.” He added that the vaccine situation in the country would improve in the coming days when more vaccines reach Pakistan.

He said the government was in contact with local and provincial administrations to make up for the shortfall. “We are carrying out load balancing and redistribution locally to manage the situation across the country.” He advised the citizens to strictly follow Covid-19 safety measures in offices and markets to prevent the disease. “Covid-19 is a deadly virus but we can control it just as we controlled it by following the SOPs during its first and second waves,” he said. Pakistan has so far fully vaccinated 3.3 million people, while about 6.6 million have received one dose. The shortages in vaccines could complicate the country’s return to normal, which has been seeing a gradual reduction in infections. On Friday, the country recorded its lowest positivity ratio of the year, at 1.9 per cent.