Officials directed to ramp up vaccination drive

PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Health Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Bangash on Tuesday directed the officials to an allied staff to expedite the vaccination drive to vaccinate more and more people in the province.

The directives were issued at a meeting co-chaired by the minister and chief secretary on Covid-19 vaccination in the province here.

Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Health Secretary Tahir Orakzai, Coordinator Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Abdul Basit, DG Health Services Niaz Ali and deputy commissioners of Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Abbottabad, Nowshera and Swat districts attended the meeting, said a handout.

Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that newly recruited vaccinators had been deployed in all the districts of the province to expedite the vaccination drive and vaccinate children above 12 years’ age and others in door to door campaigns. He urged the officials to expedite corona vaccination so that the maximum population could be immunized against the deadly virus.

On the occasion, Chief Secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash said that more expert vaccinators should be recruited on a daily wage basis to expedite the vaccination. He added that union and neighborhood council secretaries should also play a role in vaccination. He directed that steps should be taken to spread awareness about Covid-19 vaccination.

In the light of directives of National Command and Control Center, Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash stressed that vaccination campaigns should be expedited and directed districts administrations, which lag behind to achieve the vaccination targets, to utilize all available resources to meet targets.

The chief secretary directed deputy commissioners and other relevant officials to hold meetings on a daily basis regarding Covid-19 vaccination and share daily progress report with his office.

Health Secretary Tahir Orakzai apprised the meeting that vaccinators had been recruited on daily wage basis and posted at the district level so as to expedite the vaccination campaign. He said that the health department would provide other resources to districts if needed.