Punjab Health Minister, Dr. Yasmin Rashid has said that during the second phase of the provincial government’s special corona vaccination campaign “Reach Every Door” (RED), it has set a target of inoculating as many as 26.7 million people till December 31.
She was jointly chairing a meeting with Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal held at Civil Secretariat on Wednesday. The administrative secretaries of different departments including health, Auqaf, schools and higher education attended the meeting while all the deputy commissioners participated through video link.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Yasmin Rashid said that prevention of coronavirus was possible only through vaccination and adhering to SOPs. “The rate of positive cases of coronavirus in Punjab is less than one percent but
we need to be very careful after the emergence of Omicron variant of corona in South Africa,” she remarked.
The provincial minister said that any vaccine can be given for booster dose, adding that as per the guidelines of NCOC, the booster would be given free of cost to health workers and people above 50 years of age. She mentioned that the NCOC appreciated the performance of the Punjab government in successfully completing the vaccination targets.
Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal termed the corona vaccination campaign is a national cause and asked all the deputy commissioners to achieve the vaccine targets. He praised the performance of the deputy commissioners in polio and corona vaccination campaigns and urged them to continue work with the same spirit and diligence.
Secretary Primary Health Imran Sikandar Baloch gave briefing to the meeting.
He said that 26.7 million people would be vaccinated during the second phase to be continued till December 31 and more than 18,000 teams have been formed
for this purpose. He said that call centers have been set up in the districts for informing people about their second dose. During the first phase, 13.2 million people were vaccinated and the success rate remained 88 percent, he added.
