Islamabad: Pakistan has launched a nationwide campaign to provide COVID-19 paediatric vaccine to children aged five to 11 years, the health officials said.
“Children aged 5-12 are now eligible for coronavirus vaccination. It is free and available at all vaccination centres,” the National Institute of Health (NIH) said. The campaign is currently taking place in Islamabad and selected districts of Sindh and Punjab provinces.
Children aged five to 11 years would receive a two-dose paediatric Pfizer vaccine dose. The second dose would be administered after at least 21 days, according to the NIH advisory. Pakistani children are given the Pfizer COVID-19 paediatric vaccine doses which have been found to be safe both for adults and children, said Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho.
Pakistan’s federal health minister, Abdul Qadir Patel, urged parents to vaccinate their kids and said “these vaccines will keep millions of children safe from the most devastating impacts of the pandemic.”
Pakistan government rolled out the vaccination campaign on September 19 after experts said that COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in the 5-11 year demographic had been identified in eight high prevalence districts in the province of Sindh.
On Monday, the immunization campaign kicked off in all seven districts of Karachi division and Hyderabad district targeting 2.4 million children in the first phase, said Dr Samreen Ashraf Qureshi, the provincial focal person for COVID-19 vaccination.
The United States is partnering with the Pakistan government for the nationwide vaccination campaign and has donated the first batch of 8 million Pfizer COVID-19 paediatric vaccine doses.
US Ambassador Donald Blome joined Pakistani health officials to launch the health campaign at the F-9 mass vaccination centre in Islamabad. He welcomed the collaboration which will help protect “all Pakistanis against this devastating disease by launching the paediatric vaccination campaign.”
In addition to the vaccines, the United States has also provided over $80 million in direct and in-kind support to Pakistani people in the fight against COVID-19 including N95 and surgical masks, protective goggles, COVID-19 rapid diagnostic tests, 200 ventilators and four mobile testing labs.
Around 60 per cent of Pakistan’s 220 million population is fully vaccinated, according to official stats. Pakistan has also administered over 42 million COVID-19 booster shots nationwide. The country reported at least 72 new coronavirus cases and one death in the last 24 hours.
