Islamabad: Pakistan’s province of Punjab has launched a door-to-door coronavirus vaccination campaign in high-risk districts as the country is dealing with the highly contagious Delta variant.
The campaign has been initiated in five populated districts of the province - Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan.
In Lahore, Punjab Health Minister Prof Yasmin Rashid launched the vaccination drive. She said the five districts have reported the highest number of deaths and positive cases which is why the Punjab government has launched the door-to-door drive in these districts to vaccinate the maximum population. Nearly “13 million have been vaccinated in Punjab so far,” she said adding nearly 350,000 people were getting the jab daily.
Mobile health teams and volunteers have been assigned the task to convince and vaccinate 40 per cent population of four districts, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala, and 70 per cent of Rawalpindi by August 14.
As many as 566 teams in Faisalabad, 528 teams in Lahore, 356 in Rawalpindi, 224 in Gujranwala and 250 in Multan, have been formed to facilitate people to get vaccinated at their homes.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar ordered the health department to accelerate the vaccination drive and urged the citizens to get themselves vaccinated to protect their lives.
Pakistan’s coronavirus tally has passed the grim milestone of 1 million cases. At least 39 deaths and 3,262 new cases of infection were reported in the last 24 hours. Around 23,000 have lost their lives to the coronavirus in the country. Pakistan has so far administered 25.5 million vaccine doses.
