Sherry urges govt to provide poor people with free corona vaccine

ISLAMABAD: The Vice President of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians, Senator Sherry Rehman, on Wednesday slammed the government for fixing "exorbitant" prices for COVID-19 vaccine.

The Vice President PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman, said, “Once again the people have been left to fend for themselves in this raging pandemic. It is a matter of grave concern that the Transparency International has sent a notice to the government for fixing exorbitant price rates for vaccines.

Instead of providing free vaccine to the poor who are the most exposed, the Na Ehl Sarkar (incompetent government) has conveniently placed the responsibility on the private sector.” She said the price of Sputnik V was a whopping 150pc higher than the international cost. "Whereas, globally the governments are providing vaccines free but here the Tabahi Sarkar has made them unaffordable. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure that citizens are vaccinated,” she said. Rehman said private import should only be allowed on international rates and the government must ensure that the process was corruption free. The company importing the vaccines should not be allowed to jack up the prices and exempting them from price caps will only create inequalities, she said.

The senator said while we are grateful to China for helping us out in these testing times, it is shameful that this incompetent government is still asking them for more vaccines instead of making efforts to procure them. “It is quite obvious that once again the government has failed,” she said.