THE culture of entitlement prevalent in this society appears to have wavered not a whit even during a national health crisis. Reports have surfaced that 1,400 vaccine doses at three government hospitals in Lahore — Mayo, Services and Mozang — have allegedly either gone ‘missing’ or ‘been administered to unauthorised persons’, while many vials have spoiled. In Mozang Teaching hospital, 350 doses of the vaccine were spoiled allegedly because of improper storage, for which the medical superintendent has been suspended for “extreme inefficiency”. The vaccines in the three hospitals had been provided for inoculating health professionals, many of whom are still awaiting their turn. Several reports have also emerged on social media of celebrities and politicians’ families getting vaccinated out of turn against Covid-19. Many have been brazen enough to post videos of themselves getting the jab.

However, this is not to say that people who are eligible for the shots, including health professionals and citizens over 60 years of age, are signing up for them in droves. Registration, which has recently opened for those 50 years and over, has been sluggish and only a miniscule percentage of those eligible for inoculation are on course to receive it. So far, only 0.8m doses of the vaccine have been administered. Last week, Pakistan received its first two consignments of purchased vaccine totalling a million doses. According to government authorities, orders for millions more will be finalised in the coming months. That is reassuring, but an effective campaign to motivate people to get themselves inoculated is sorely needed. Too many are still sitting on the fence, inclined to risk infection rather than trust science. That Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi were diagnosed with Covid-19 after their first doses of the vaccine is unfortunate. Vaccine sceptics are likely to see it as ‘evidence’ of the medication’s ‘inefficacy’. Such misinformation must be robustly countered with facts; it takes up to two weeks after receiving the second jab for immunity to kick in.

The third wave of Covid-19 is tearing across the country, especially in Punjab and KP, making it all the more essential for the vaccination campaign to gain traction. In most urban centres, aside from Karachi, the positivity rate is well over 10pc; last week, it was 17pc in Lahore and 15pc in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. On Saturday, out of 55,605 tests conducted, 5,020 people tested positive, the second highest figure this year. Eighty-one patients succumbed to the disease. Given these frightening statistics — that have resulted in the UK placing Pakistan on a ‘red list’ — restrictions in most provinces have been further tightened. Where masks in public places are mandated, fines should be imposed on the spot so that people realise they have no choice but to take the SOPs seriously. Only by collective action can we win this battle.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2021