Lahore's Jinnah Hospital missing 600 coronavirus vaccine doses: sources

Lahore's Jinnah Hospital  is missing as many as 600 coronavirus vaccine doses stored at the medical facility, sources said Friday.

Sources said the hospital administration has inoculated friends and relatives with the missing doses, adding that no records of the vaccines could be found in the hospital's database.

The province's health department has asked for the records following the reported disappearance of the vaccines. Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said a complete record of the vaccination would be compiled, and strict action would be taken if irregularities found.

In this regard, the medical superintendent of Jinnah Hospital said there was a problem in compiling the record of the vaccines as some doctors did not make entries after being inoculated.

"Following completion of registration, it can be determined how many doses went missing," the hospital's MS said.

Meanwhile, Chairman Jinnah Hospital Management Board Gohar Ijaz said all relevant records of vaccines are available, adding that paramedical staff was vaccinated "on merit", and audits are being conducted on a daily basis.

A day earlier, sources at the health department had revealed some 550 vaccine doses had reportedly gone missing from Lahore's Services Hospital.

According to the sources, an additional 350 doses of coronavirus vaccines stored at the city's Government Mozang Teaching Hospital had also "gone to waste" due to the unavailability of an optimum temperature.

No record related to the 550 missing doses could be found.

The missing vaccines have been administered to important personalities, bureaucrats, and their friends, sources at the health department had said, adding that Federal Minister for Housing Tariq Bashir Cheema of the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q), along with his wife, were also each given a COVID-19 jab from the missing doses.