How Pakistan plans to vaccinate its way out of pandemic
GOVERNMENT COMES UP WITH THREE-PRONGED STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE GOAL OF VACCINATING 70 MILLION BY YEAR-END
On June 9, a major milestone was reached in Pakistan with over 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses administered. That day reflected both a landmark health care achievement and logistical victory, four months after vaccines started to arrive.
For many health care workers who have been tirelessly working on the front lines in the battle against Covid-19, the 10 million mark is a “symbol of hope amid the dark days of the pandemic” in a country of 220 million with a fragile health care system and 941,170 infections of which 93.2 per cent have recovered, according to official stats.
Vaccinating 70m in 2021
Pakistan is slowly and successfully vaccinating its way out of the pandemic. Government officials termed the 10 million mark “a significant step” towards the ambitious goal of vaccinating 70 million eligible people or 33 per cent of the total population by the end of 2021.
In a media briefing, the officials said roughly 125 million adults are eligible to receive the vaccine. An estimated 44 per cent of Pakistanis are under the age of 18. The goal is “to reach the last mile but given how [delivery of] vaccines and epidemics work, if we are able to get to 70 million this year, then we can start to breathe easier,” Dr Faisal Sultan, infectious disease specialist and adviser to the prime minister on health affairs, told Gulf News. He believes the next two months would “require really solid effort to ramp up the vaccine delivery” to get the vaccine to as many Pakistanis as possible.
Vaccination journey
Pakistan began its Covid-19 vaccine drive on February 3 starting with front line health care workers and touched the one million mark by April 6. It took around 60 days to reach the first million and about the same time (two months) to administer another nine million doses — indicating a major boost in vaccine roll-out. Pakistan’s immunisation campaign has initially been slow amid hesitancy and shortage of vaccines
but the drive picked pace last month as the country started producing the single dose Chinese Cansino vaccine, with the hope of making three million doses a month.
Around 250,000 doses a day are being administered currently. Pakistan is vaccinating all adult citizens (18 years and above) free of cost at government health facilities. Some districts are offering at-home vaccination services for senior citizens and the country opened its first drive-thru vaccination clinic last week.
How many and which vaccines are available?
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), responsible for vaccine procurement, has so far received 14.5 million doses of different vaccines, mostly from
China. Pakistan government recently allocated $1 billion for vaccine procurement.
Challenges — hesitancy, delivery and shortage
Pakistan initially grappled with the unequal distribution of vaccines “simply because Covax/Gavi supply essentially dried out” Dr Sultan said. The UN’s Covax had committed 45 million doses to the country in 2021 but only 1.3m doses have arrived so far. Amnesty
International had expressed fears about inequalities in vaccine access saying that the rich countries and firms have “created a dangerous situation” as a few “rich countries are racing ahead”, while the rest of the world has barely moved beyond the starting line.
With the number of cases and fatalities increasing during the third wave, Pakistan explored other options and managed to procure nearly 13 million doses from its closest ally
China. After securing enough vaccines, the current challenge that Pakistan is facing is tackling hesitancy and ensuring a stable supply of vaccines.
Survey findings
The latest government survey revealed the majority of Pakistanis are ready to get the jabs. “Over 55-60 per cent are willing to get vaccinated which is an encouraging number that can be further enhanced with a targeted awareness campaign,” says National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) director general operations and planning, Maj Gen Asif Mehmood Goraya. Schools, businesses, mosques and madrasas can play a critical role in supporting vaccination drive and help win the fight against the virus and misinformation spreading on social media, he said.
Vaccine strategy
NCOC has devised a threepronged approach.
· Voluntary vaccinations · Obligatory vaccinations for public and private sector staff. · Incentivised vaccination. The current focus is on voluntary vaccination, as health officials do not consider punitive measures as the right approach.
However, Pakistan has made vaccination mandatory for public and private sector employees. Pakistan is also planning to introduce several incentives such as travel packages, discount on air, rail and bus tickets, shopping and restaurant vouchers to encourage people to get fully vaccinated.
In the coming weeks, NCOC intends to increase daily vaccinations from 400,000 doses currently to one million.