Given limited stock of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the federal government has tinkered with its policy about who will be administered the United States vaccine, sources said.
They said work visa holders and students travelling abroad will not be administered the Pfizer vaccine as only Hajis and people suffering from chronic diseases will be receiving this vaccine.
They said people traveling abroad will be administered the American vaccine once the country receives its second batch.
The sources relayed the government would start administering the vaccine this week. It will be available at specific vaccination centres in fifteen cities where trained staff have been deployed for the purpose.
Pakistan received 106,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine through the Covax facility. On Wednesday, the federal government started distribution of 51,000 doses of the vaccine to federal and provincial authorities.
Punjab province received most of the doses – 26,000 – followed by 12,000 and 8,000 doses provided to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, respectively. Balochistan was given 2,000 doses while Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 1,000 doses each.