Govt Initiates Nationwide Covid Home Vaccination Campaign

ISLAMABAD: In the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) meeting held on Tuesday, the government decided to launch a two-week-long door-to-door covid vaccination campaign in which 35 million vaccine shots will be administered.

The move comes as the nation witnesses record cases of the Omicron variant – as the fifth wave of the Covid pandemic intensifies with over 100,000 active cases in the country.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan, Planning Minister and NCOC Head Asad Umar said: “The NCOC (National Command and Operation Centre) has prepared for a massive campaign which is about to start in all areas of the country. Over 55,000 mobile teams will go and carry out vaccinations at homes.”

While explaining the rationale behind the move, at the outset of the press conference, Dr. Faisal said that the only way to mitigate the harmful effects of the disease was vaccination. Similarly, Asad Umar said it was found that areas with higher vaccination rates were more protected from the dangerous effects of Covid-19, with vaccinated people showing mild symptoms.

The NCOC deems booster shots to be necessary in the wake of subsequent covid waves.  SAPM Sultan said it [booster shot] was a definite recommendation due to the available scientific evidence.

Shedding light on the present state of vaccination across the country, Asad Umar said around 80m people are completely vaccinated while over 10m have received a single dose of the vaccine. He urged the public to get both doses of the vaccination as well as the booster dose if eligible.

On January 29, Pakistan recorded its highest daily covid cases in a day – 8,183 with major cities of the country including Karachi, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Mirpur, Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Islamabad, Quetta, and Muzaffarabad having a positivity rate of above 10 pc.