Ali Zaidi praises Sindh govt for vaccination arrangements

Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi has appreciated the move of the Sindh government to vaccinate the elderly people at home to protect of their health againstthe coronavirus infection.

He praised the Sindh government on Sunday while talking to media persons after visiting the Sindh government’s Covid-19 mass vaccination centre at the Khaliqdina Hall in District South of the city.

Zaidi said he was satisfied with the arrangements made at the Khaliqdina Hall to carry out mass vaccination. He was briefed on the occasion that so far 85,000 people had been vaccinated at the Khaliqdina Hall.

The federal minister said that overall, the Sindh government had done well to deal with the coronavirus situation. He, however, added that at the same time he would duly point out wherever there were lacunas in the arrangements of the Sindh government to tackle the health emergency.

He said the Punjab government had purchased the coronavirus vaccine on its own and the Sindh government should follow suit. He recalled that the Sindh government had allocated Rs5 billion to address the coronavirus situation and the same should now be spent to purchase the vaccine, in case the fund was still not utilised.

He disclosed to the media persons that the National Command and Operation Centre had not barred any province from purchasing the coronavirus vaccine. The federal minister said the government officials remained continuously in touch with the patients suffering from the coronavirus infection in Islamabad and Punjab and a similar arrangement should also be put in place by the Sindh government.

He mentioned that the European and other Western countries despite having advanced health care systems had failed to effectively deal with the coronavirus situation. Zaidi appealed to the general public to duly observe the standard operating procedures to contain the spread of the novel and continue to wear masks even after they were vaccinated.

Praising the healthcare officials, he said their services were of similar nature to that of the army troops stationed at the borders as both sacrificed their lives for the safety of their countrymen.

He also revealed that he had written a letter to Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, requesting him to purchase 100,000 Covid-19 vaccines for the port workers in the country, the required funds for which would be provided by his ministry.