Second phase of Pakistan's coronavirus vaccination drive begins today

• Health department had started registration of people over the age of 60 for the immunization programme on February 15.
• SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has said that senior most citizens will be the first ones to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Govt had launched the COVID-19 vaccine drive in early February beginning with the healthcare workers in the first phase.

ISLAMABAD: The second phase of Pakistan's vaccination drive against coronavirus targeting people over the age of 60 will begin today.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, said that most senior citizens who have registered for vaccination will receive an SMS with instructions on their mobile phones and the oldest persons will be vaccinated first.

"The senior most citizens will be the first ones to receive the doses of COVID-19 vaccine," Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan had said on Tuesday.

Read more: Pakistan to begin next coronavirus vaccination phase from March, says Dr Faisal Sultan

He urged the healthcare workers and those eligible to get vaccinated to protect themselves as well as their loved ones.

The health department had started the registration of people over the age of 60 for the immunization programme from February 15. They had asked citizens to send a text message at 1166 or enter their details at the national immunization management system (NIMS) website.

Once registered, the eligible citizens will be informed about the vaccine centre and the date of vaccination through a text message, the officials had said.

The government had launched the COVID-19 vaccine drive in early February beginning with the healthcare workers in the first phase after receiving 500,000 Sinopharm doses from China.

Read more: Pakistan starts registration of citizens over age of 65 for COVID-19 vaccination

At least 25% of the 400,000 registered doctors, nurses and paramedical staff registered have been vaccinated.

The official said under GAVI-COVAX programme for countries, Pakistan was also likely to receive 17 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by end of June. 

Seven million doses would be available in the first quarter and 10 million doses in the second quarter.

He added Pakistan was also in touch with other countries to get 73 million doses of the vaccine, which were likely to receive in the last quarter.