-Campaign launched simultaneously in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar —ECC approves Rs141 mln funds for COVID-19 awareness campaign
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Almost a year after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, a countrywide anti-Covid-19 vaccination drive formally started on Wednesday.
The campaign was launched simultaneously in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar.
In Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah kicked off the province’s inoculation drive at a ceremony held at the Ojha Campus of the Dow University of Health Sciences where a number of frontline warriors were vaccinated against the coronavirus.An inauguration ceremony also took place in Peshawar where Chief Minister Mahmood Khan launched the campaign. In Balochistan, healthcare workers were administered first doses of the China-made vaccine in the presence of Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan.
Healthcare workers were also administered first shots of the Sinopharm vaccine at a special ceremony at the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) in Islamabad. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, said health workers are the country’s real heroes in the fight against the pandemic. “This is the reason that we decided to administer the vaccine to the health workers in the first phase,” he added.
The minister lauded China for gifting 0.5 million doses of the vaccine, saying China is our true friend that has always stood by us in difficult times.
It is the because of the government’s effective strategy and the cooperation of the provinces and people that the country managed to control the spread of the pandemic, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday has approved the provision of Rs141 million funds to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for running COVID-19 advertisement campaign.
Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has chaired the session of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) today. Sources said that a grant worth Rs400 million was approved for the maintenance of helicopters.
