By Shafqat Ali

 

Karachi, March 17: Pakistan’s Sindh provincial government on Tuesday evening announced to launch a mass coronavirus vaccination drive to inoculate all people above 18 years as Pakistan received more vaccines from Iron Brother China.

 

The provincial government will engage private hospitals and laboratories in the mass vaccination programme, says an official statement.

 

The government will encourage the private health sector to import Covid-19 vaccine, allocate human resources and establish vaccination centers, especially in Karachi, said the statement.

 

These decisions were made at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah here. The meeting was told that the provincial response to the pandemic was characterized by mixed public and private delivery of care.

 

The private health sector played a critical role in providing essential health services, health officials said. It catered to the need to test patients as well as the isolation and treatment of individuals who required hospitalization and critical care, the statement said.

 

The Sindh government started vaccinating frontline healthcare workers on February 3, after the province received the first consignment of Sinopharm vaccine from China. Recently, it started vaccinating 60-plus general population.

 

The provincial government now intends to initiate mass vaccination of people of all ages above 18. It said the programme would require the private health sector to shoulder the efforts of the health department to vaccinate every resident of the province.

 

The Chief Minister directed officials to seek assistance of the private sector in importing Covid-19 vaccines. The cabinet allowed the health department to engage private hospitals and labs in the mass vaccination drive and encourage the private sector to import vaccines, added the statement.

 

CM Shah directed the health department to formulate SOPs and devise a registration mechanism under the Sindh Healthcare Commission. He asked the health authorities to ensure that the vaccine prices remain under control.

 

Pakistan has finalized a deal to purchase the Sinopharm vaccines at a discounted price following an agreement with the Chinese pharmaceutical company.

 

The Chinese pharmaceutical company will supply the vaccines in phases. The National Institute of Health (NIH) had earlier obtained permission for the emergency use of Sinopharm vaccines in Pakistan. Sinopharm vaccines are already being administered to frontline health workers and elderly citizens aged above 60 in Pakistan.

 

Following the ongoing vaccination drive, Sinopharm vaccines are proved effective and successful in Pakistan. Pakistan is also holding negotiations with another Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

 

China had earlier gifted 100, 000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines to Pakistan including 50000 vials for frontline health workers and 50000 doses for Pakistan Army. However, the Pakistan Army had voluntarily handed over the share of vaccines to frontline health workers.

 

On March 3, the Covax scheme announced that Pakistan, Nigeria and Indonesia will be among the biggest recipients of free Covid-19 vaccines before June - more than 10 million doses each.