COVID vaccination at Karachi's Expo Centre 'stopped' after health workers protest

KARACHI: The vaccination process at one of the mass immunization facilities nationwide at Karachi’s Expo Centre has been shut after the health staff refused to work in protest against their three-month pending salaries, ARY NEWS reported on Saturday.

According to details, the contract health employees hired by the Sindh government have gone on strike over delay in payment of their three-month salaries, halting the registration process for the COVID jab.

The health workers, who also staged a protest at the mass vaccination facility, said that they would not work unless their dues are cleared. The citizens who reached the centre for their vaccination had to return owing to the unavailability of the services.

It is pertinent to mention here that the mass vaccination facility at the Expo Centre in Karachi was launched in May this year to facilitate the vaccination drive.

The vaccination centre is said to be the largest in the country, where an estimated 30,000 people could be inoculated in a day with round-the-clock service to be offered to visitors registered by the federal government for the jabs, said the Sindh health department.

According to the director Nursing School, some 400-strong workforce of the Sindh health department comprising doctors, physicians, healthcare workers and volunteers would be serving at the centre round the clock for speedy and swift services to all visitors.

It was in December, last year when Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho hinted at turning the Karachi Expo Centre into a coronavirus vaccination centre. The minister had also visited the centre to review the proposal and get a briefing from the experts about the possibility of the plan.