Govt asked to withdraw decision on booster dose for overseas Pakistanis

TIMERGARA: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) president for the overseas Pakistanis Haji Ameer Zaman on Sunday criticized the government and National Health Services (NHS) for charging overseas Pakistanis for the booster dose against Covid-19.

Talking to local journalists here, he said that overseas Pakistanis had been suffering for the last two years due to the pandemic. He criticised the government and the NHS for its decision to vaccinate the overseas Pakistanis and to charge them Rs1,270 per booster dose.

Zaman termed the government decision against the national interest and said it would further put burden on the overseas Pakistanis. He demanded the federal government and the NHS to reverse its decision regarding the extra levy on the overseas Pakistanis for getting a booster dose, which was declared necessary for travelling abroad.

He said the government of Pakistan should instead raise the issue with the World Health Organization (WHO) and convince it to accept the foreign travel of those who have been administered Chinese vaccines.

He said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had added Sinopharm and Sinovac to its list of approved vaccines. He said the Pakistani embassy should convince the Saudi government to allow Pakistanis to travel there without getting a booster dose. He threatened to launch a protest drive against the government if the decision was not reversed within three days.