Peshawar: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded four more deaths due to Covid-19 and 81 new cases as the health department struggles to vaccinate people against the virus.
“Only vaccination can ensure the protection of people from the pandemic. We have proven medical evidence that non-vaccinated people are more likely to die or suffer serious complications than immunized people,” said senior health officials associated with COVID-19 vaccination in the province dawn,
He said that at present the campaign has slowed down due to measles and rubella vaccination but the overall situation with regard to the pace of vaccination is not up to the desired level.
He said the government has so far given the first dose of Covid-19 to 12 million (52 per cent) people in the province and the second dose to seven million (38pc) residents of the 24.2m target population.
KP records four more deaths and 81 new coronavirus cases
“However, signs suggest that the campaign will be slow even after the measles campaign is over. We will start full scale Covid-19 vaccination after the completion of the measles campaign,” he said.
Health officials said the reason for the snail-speed vaccination was simple.
He said health-conscious people had long been vaccinated, while others had been made mandatory for official documentation, educational and foreign travel attendance.
“Most of the remaining five million people, who have not yet been immunized, are in silent denial.
He said, “The government has initially announced to block mobile SIM cards of unvaccinated people to ensure that all the population gets work and we can return to normal life but it seems that the danger is not working.” Came.”
Officials said the health department set up 700 immunization centers in the province, which were initially available to people but later slowed down due to people’s reluctance.
“We have had to close about 10 mass vaccination centers due to lack of public interest,” he said.
He said that after the completion of measles vaccination on November 27, they would vaccinate 250,000 people against the coronavirus daily.
He said the government’s support would be needed to ensure that people get jobs.
“The National Command and Control Center (NCOC) has announced a mandatory vaccination regime. This means it is essential for all citizens to get the shot and be safe from the pandemic,” he said.
Officials said the district administration was shutting down shops and marriage halls besides taking action against unvaccinated drivers and passengers, but there was a need to trace and vaccinate the mute people who are yet to be detected.
“Closing mobile SIMs is an option to accelerate the vaccination program, but it is the federal government’s jurisdiction to decide in this regard.
“However, we can make a recommendation to the NCOC if the situation does not show improvement in the next few weeks,” he said.
Officials said three medical educational institutions in Peshawar also immunized nearly 400,000 people by linking vaccination with admission to hospitals.
Hospitals have made vaccination mandatory for patients and their attendants to enter OPDs.
He said that without complete vaccination the epidemic cannot be controlled.
He added that the virus will continue to infect people, so vaccination against it is extremely important.
According to a report by the Health Department, the province has so far recorded 5,829 deaths due to the pandemic and 179,855 confirmed cases.
Of the infected persons, 173,123 (96 per cent) patients, including 176 patients recorded during the last 24 hours, have recovered from the infectious disease.
There are total 903 active cases in the state.
Two of the new deaths occurred in Peshawar and one each in Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan.
The number of hospitalized patients is 250 and out of these 50 are on ventilators.
Published in Dawn, November 26, 2021