ISLAMABAD: Eight million children aged between five and 11 years will be vaccinated in Islamabad and selected districts of Sindh and Punjab during the second phase of Covid-19 vaccination.
The campaign started on Monday and will end on Saturday (Nov 5).
According to a document available with Dawn, there are 10,517,677 (over 10 million) children between the ages of five and 11 years in the areas under consideration. Since the vaccination of 80pc target population is considered an optimum level, the government decided to vaccinate at least eight million children.
Islamabad has 477,750 children in the target age group. Out of them, 365,058 will be vaccinated against Covid-19 during the campaign, which will end on Nov 5.
In Sindh, Karachi and Hyderabad have been selected for the campaign. In Karachi, 2,451,712 (2.4m) children, out of 3,502,446 (over 3.5m) in the target group, will be vaccinated.
Over 327,283 children, out of 467,546 in the age group in question, will be targeted in Hyderabad.
As many as five cities in Punjab — Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Okara and Bahawalpur — have been picked for the vaccination drive.
Lahore has 2,454,455 (over 2.4m) children in the five-11 age bracket. Of them, 1,963,564 (over 1.9m) will be vaccinated.
In Multan, there are 1,015,818 (over one million) children in the specified age group and the number of children selected for the drive is 812,654.
In Rawalpindi, 936,326 children, out of 1,170,407(over 1.1m), will be inoculated.
There are 645,533 children in the 5-11 age group in Okara. The number of children targeted for the vaccination campaign is 516,426.
In Bahawalpur, 626,977 children will be vaccinated out of 783,721.
Top priority
Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said in a statement the Ministry of National Health Services had taken a timely step in the interest of children, parents and the entire nation by launching the drive.
Mr Patel sought the cooperation of donors, partners, religious leaders and intellectuals for making the campaign a success.
Sajid Shah, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, told Dawn the country had already achieved the optimum level in adult vaccination and now “we must take measures” to protect children from the coronavirus disease.
“It has been decided that children will be vaccinated after getting consent letters from their parents. So we urge parents to allow their children to be vaccinated as it is the best shield against the pandemic,” he said.
Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2022
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