Health Officer suspended , after violating Vaccine SOPs

An officer of the District Health Office in Karachi‘s East district has suspended on Sunday; for allegedly violating the standard operating procedures to facilitate the vaccination against Covid-19 of PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair’s daughter and son-in-law.

The Covid-19 vaccination campaign has launched in Karachi last week, and as per government guidelines; the first phase of the drive suppose to strictly limited to frontline healthcare workers; followed by people aged 65 years and above.

However, on Saturday evening, reports on social media claimed that the daughter and son-in-law of Zubair; the former Sindh governor; have inoculated out of turn even though they were neither health workers nor elderly.

 Asad Umer’s Tweet

Apparently referring to the above incident, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar, who is the head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) overseeing

Pakistan’s Covid-19 response and also happens to be the brother of PML-N leader Zubair, tweeted that

“complaints had been received that corona vaccine is being administered to acquaintances and others besides healthcare workers”.

شکایت موصول ہوئی تھیں کے کرونا ویکسین کراچی میں ہیلتھ کیئر ورکرز کے علاوہ جان پہچان والوں کو لگائ جا رہی ہیں. فوری نوٹس لیتے ہوئے آج NCOC کی ٹیم کی فیصل سلطان کی سربراہی میں سندھ حکومت کے نمائندوں سے میٹنگ میں سختی سے صرف ہیلتھ ورکرز کی ویکسینیشن کی تاکید کی گئ.

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) February 7, 2021

Responding to one such tweet, Meeran Yousuf, media coordinator to the Sindh health and population welfare minister, said “the person who facilitated has suspended and an inquiry will be taking place.”

She said the provincial government’s “priority is our Frontline Healthcare Workers only in this phase”.

The person who facilitated this has been suspended and an enquiry will be taking place. Our priority is our Frontline Healthcare Workers only in this phase. https://t.co/ILSqoqAnGy pic.twitter.com/OUV9Lmkzkh

— Meeran (@LumosNotNox) February 7, 2021

When approached; Yousuf said that according to the health department’s database; the two persons whose pictures of getting vaccinated on social media were the daughter and son-in-law of Zubair.

A copy of an order issued by the Sindh health department, shared by Yousuf on Twitter; stated that the services of Dr. Aneela Qureshi, deputy district officer (BS-18) at the District Health Office in the East district

“are hereby placed under suspension and she is directed to report at [the] health department”.

Fayyaz Hussain Abbasi will conduct the inquiry

According to the order, Fayyaz Hussain Abbasi, the provincial coordination at the EOC for Immunisation and Polio Karachi Division; has appointed as the inquiry officer to conduct an inquiry as

“Violation of SOPs during the administration of Covid-19 vaccine at Adult Vaccination Centre” at the Ojha campus of Dow University; Karachi.

He will submit the inquiry report within three working days, the notification dated February 7 said.

Immediate notice by NCOC

He said an “Immediate Notice” has taken, and during a meeting with an NCOC team by Dr. Faisal Sultan, Sindh government representatives were “strictly force for vaccination of health workers only”.

It stated that during her suspension period, Dr. Qureshi has “entitled to draw her salary as per the rules”.