Vaccination efforts need improvement in Karachi, Hyderabad: Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Given the slow pace of the COVID-19 vaccination drives in various cities, including Karachi, and Hyderabad, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar said Thursday that the district administration and health teams in these cities needed to improve their performance.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Umar appreciated the vaccination progress in Islamabad, Peshawar, Gilgit, Sargodha and other cities. The federal minister, however, underscored the need for improvement in the vaccination process in Karachi, Hyderabad, Nowshera, Faisalabad, Quetta, Mardan and other cities.

“To ensure there is no 5th wave of COVID-19, we have to meet vaccination targets set,” he added.

The federal minister for planning said despite a sharp decline in new COVID-19 cases, Pakistan will remain vulnerable to the infection if a large number of people remain unvaccinated.

Urging the public to get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19, the minister said, “Remember that the second dose is vital for protection against COVID-19.”

'Vaccination lowest in Karachi, Hyderabad'

Earlier, on August 3, the federal government had asked the Sindh government to improve its response to coronavirus and ramp up vaccinations as the fourth wave of the pandemic continues to spread.

"The vaccination count is the "lowest in Karachi and Hyderabad," Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had said in a post-cabinet press conference in Islamabad.

"[The] Sindh government needs to look into the mirror first," he had said, reiterating that the federal government can only ask federating units to improve their governance.