Punjab vaccination centres to remain closed on Sunday

LAHORE: Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department has said that the vaccination centres in the province will remain closed on Sunday (today) on weekly off day.

In a statement, the health department said that the province will receive sufficient stocks of corona vaccine by Sunday evening and all vaccination centres in Punjab will be opened from Monday.

The vaccination centres will remain open from 8:00am to 8:00pm, according to the statement.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has said that the Covid-19 vaccine supply would improve in the province after June 20 as more vaccine will reach Islamabad on Monday.

Speaking in the ARY News talk show ‘Sawal Ye Hai’, provincial health minister said that Sinopharm and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses were available in Punjab.

She further said that the vaccination shortage in Pakistan occurred due to a delay in vaccine supplies from China.

She said that Punjab has so far inoculated seven million people against the novel coronavirus.

Amid Covid-19 vaccine shortage being reported at vaccination centres across the country, enraged citizens had forcibly entered the Lahore Expo Centre on Saturday.

Corona vaccination centres in Karachi also run out of the stocks of Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Cansino vaccines on Saturday.

Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah chairing a session of the Sindh’s COVID-19 Task Force announced the vaccination holiday on Sunday owing to shortage of the coronavirus vaccine.

The session was however told that a consignment of 1.5 mln doses of Sinovac will be received by June 21, and 0.7 mln cansino vaccine doses and 0.4 mln PakVac doses will be available by June 23.

Earlier, a serious shortage of Covid-19 vaccines suspended the vaccination process at Karachi’s Expo Centre facility, forcing many people to return home without vaccination.