Walk-in vaccination begins for citizens over 30 and teachers in Pakistan

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

Walk-in vaccination against coronavirus for citizens aged 30 and above and teachers older than 18 years started on Saturday.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Chairman and Planning Minister Asad Umar have given an update on both vaccination categories on Twitter.
Umar requested people who are 30 years or older to get registered and go to any vaccination centre to get a jab against coronavirus.

"Walk-in vaccination for teachers above 18 years of age is open. Teachers can walk-in to any vaccination centre with Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), stamped letter from head of institution/teachers’ ID Card and get themselves vaccinated,” the NCOC tweeted.

More than 5 million people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus infection in Pakistan so far, according to the minister, who encouraged the public to get themselves registered for vaccination at the earliest.

A teacher receives the first shot of the Sinovac vaccine at a school in Lahore. AP

Earlier this week, on May 16, Pakistan opened registrations for citizens aged 19 and above for coronavirus vaccination. In a tweet, Umar had said now registration will be open for the entire national population, which is approved by health experts for the vaccine.

He had explained that the government was opening up registrations for more age groups as Pakistan's vaccine supply continues to improve and the country's vaccination capacity gets enhanced day by day.

A digital portal has been launched by the federal government for the registration through which a code is assigned to the person. They can then go to a designated vaccination centre and get a jab.

Meanwhile, after the UK variant made inroads into various cities of the country, Pakistan has reported its first confirmed patient carrying the Indian strain.

In a statement, the national health services ministry spokesperson, Sajid Shah, confirmed the development. "The Indian variant case was detected by the

National Institute of Health which conducted whole-genome sequencing of SARS CoV-2 samples collected during the first three weeks of May 2021.”

"The sequencing results confirmed the detection of seven cases of B.1.351 (South African variant) and one case of B.1.617.2 (Indian variant),” he said, adding that this was the first in-country detection of the Indian strain.

"As per protocols, contact tracing of all the cases is in progress by the Field Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Division and DHO Islamabad,” the statement said, adding that continued detection of global strains highlighted the ongoing need for observation of guidelines, use of masks and need for vaccination.