By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel and US Ambassador Donald Blome here on Monday kicked off a nationwide campaign to vaccinate children with the first batch of eight million Pfizer COVID-19 pediatric vaccine doses donated by the United States.
Being the largest donor of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan, the United States had committed to provide more than 78 million doses and over 70 million of them had arrived in the country so far, a US embassy press release said.
The US government, through USAID, is supporting the Government of Pakistan’s COVID-19 pediatric vaccination campaign for 5- 11 years old children. The campaign is taking place in the Federal Capital and selected districts of Sindh and Punjab provinces. National Institute of Health Executive Director Major General Dr Aamer Ikram, Director of General Health Services Dr Shabana Salem, and other senior government officials also attended the event.
Addressing the inauguration campaign, Ambassador Blome remarked, “Today, we celebrate the next step in protecting all Pakistanis against this devastating disease by launching the pediatric vaccination campaign. Our recent collaboration to protect the children of Pakistan demonstrates the importance of our longstanding partnership to work together and overcome the global challenge.”
Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel praised the commitment of both countries to combat COVID-19 in Pakistan and said, “Protecting our communities from COVID-19 is a shared priority of both of our governments, and these vaccines will keep millions of children safe from the most devastating impacts of the pandemic.”
He expressed gratitude for the US government’s support to improve health services in Pakistan, as it reflected the strong bilateral relations between the two countries.
In addition to the vaccines, the US government has also provided over $80 million in direct and in-kind support to assist the Pakistani people in the fight against COVID-19. This support has included more than 1.2 million N95 masks, 96,000 surgical masks, 52,000 protective goggles, one million COVID-19 rapid diagnostic tests, 1,200 pulse oximeters, and 200 ventilators for 64 Pakistani hospitals, all of which has helped save lives and protect people across teh country.
The US government also trained over 50,000 health workers, including 30,000 women, across Pakistan on home-based care for COVID-19 patients, and established a national network of disease surveillance and response units and teams – providing an infrastructure to combat the current pandemic and building resiliency for the future.
In July, the United States also provided four mobile testing labs to the National Institute of Health to strengthen Pakistan’s ability to diagnose diseases in remote, under-served areas, the press release added.
