COVID-19 Vaccines Fell Short At The Expo Center Karachi

COVID-19 vaccination fell short on Tuesday at Expo Centre Karachi. Many people were forced to return without being vaccinated.

As a result, many small vaccination centres were also affected as most of the stock was being transferred to the Mega Vaccination Center.

It was reported that the shortage of vaccines had been bothering for some time. As a result, some vaccination centres were closed in rural areas of the city.

As the response to the shortage of stock, the health department officials said there were reasonable stocks available while the shortage at the Expo Centre was immediately addressed.

“There was a brief disruption of hardly five to 10 minutes in the vaccination process at the Expo Centre as the staff had already informed about the emerging situation and supplies reached the facility in time,” said Dr Samreen Ashraf Qureshi, the provincial focal person for Covid-19 vaccination.

The vaccination at the Expo Centre is being conducted 24/7 and the daily count is around 25,000 to 30,000, which was the main cause of brief disruption at the Centre.

“Our main target is the Expo Centre facility. It’s the first time that the facility faced a shortage of vaccines and hopefully, it won’t happen again.”

In concern of the vaccine shortage and closure of some centres, Dr Qureshi said that the issues are being managed at the time, but no reports are received by the department about the closure of the centres.

“The vaccine availability situation will improve further as soon as we will receive doses of locally manufactured PakVac vaccine. Currently, we have around 200,000 to 300,000 doses of vaccines, which are meant for those who will receive the jab for the first time. The rest will be managed from the federal stocks.”

The public is responding positively to the COVID-19 vaccination as the demand is rising.

“We are giving 75,000 doses per day [in Sindh]. This is a great achievement reflecting public trust in the Covid-19 vaccines and the whole process. People’s misconceptions are being removed as they see more people getting the vaccine jab. The response has improved also because the government has removed the age bar,” said Dr Qureshi.

AstraZeneca vaccine is being offered to people below 40 and Pfizer to people with low immunity.

“There is a great demand for the Oxford vaccine from expats, especially those who are employed in Saudi Arabia. They are required to fill out a consent form to get an AstraZeneca shot. That’s due to concerns prevailing about this vaccine in public.”

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