Head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar announced the registration of the COVID-19 vaccination on Monday. He said that the government will start registration of COVID-19 vaccination for citizens over the age of 65 in March.
Pleased to announce that registration for getting covid vaccine is now open for all citizens 65 and above. Just write down ur CNIC number and send message on 1166. Inshallah vaccinations for this age group will start in march
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) February 15, 2021
“Inshallah vaccinations for this age group will start in March,” said Umar.
However, Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid, told on Sunday, that the country will use the tranche of vaccine doses it gets via the global COVAX platform to vaccinate citizens over the age of 65.
She said that the vaccine will arrive at beginning of March.
“Those [doses] will be used for the common people above the age of 65 years,” she said.
Once vaccinating people over the age of 65, it will expand the campaign to citizens over the age of 60.
Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Jhagra lauded the NCOC, SAPM on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan, and NCOC head Asad Umar for their “tremendous job”.
The minister believes that Pakistan’s vaccination campaign will “roll out” in full swing in the next few months as the private sector will also start administering the drug.
Earlier this month, Pakistan had started its countrywide vaccination drive with the frontline healthcare workers being the first ones to get the important drug.
The country initiated its vaccination campaign after receiving 0.5 million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China. Pakistan later distributed the doses across all the provinces through land and air.