LAHORE: People in the capital crowded the Poly Clinic Hospital on Wednesday as the country began the second phase of a nationwide coronavirus vaccination drive to inoculate all above 60.
Large hoards of senior citizens and a few youths assisting them were seeing cramped in tiny spaces, not observing the government-issued guidelines to prevent further spread of Covid-19, while officials turned a blind eye to the scenario.
Those sitting in waiting areas were also seated right next to each other while a few people were roaming around with their masks below the nose.
Many people were seen not observing the government-issued guidelines to prevent further spread of Covid-19, including by not wearing masks and not maintaining a physical distance.
It is pertinent to mention here that most senior citizens will be the first ones to receive the doses of the Covid-19 vaccine with the vaccinations being done in reverse order by age which means the oldest person who has registered will be vaccinated first.
The health department had started registration of those who are 60 years and above for the immunisation programme from February 15, asking the citizens to send a text message at 1166 or enter their details at the national immunisation management system (NIMS) website. Once registered, eligible citizens are informed about the vaccine centre and the date of vaccination through a text message.
On the other hand, 54 more people died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 13,281.
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that 1,353 fresh infections were reported during the aforesaid period, jacking up the national tally of cases to 593,453.
The total count of active cases in the country currently stands at 16,349 with 1,644 of them in critical condition. The positivity rate stands at 4.25 per cent.
