ISLAMABAD - The government in order to procure the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine has the options of bilateral contracts with the manufacturing firms and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) established COVAX window.
This was stated by the Vice Chancellor (VC) National Health Services Academy (NHSA) who is also a member of the technical committee on COVID-19 vaccine.
The Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA) organized an online workshop for health journalists in collaboration with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) as part of its initiative to encourage evidence-based responsible and accurate reporting of COVID-19 response.
Discussing about the vaccine, VC NHSA said that Pakistan has options of procuring vaccine through bilateral contracts with the vaccine producers and from the COVAX window which will cover 20 per cent population for each country.
He said that the availability of vaccines through bilateral contracts is possible in the first quarter (March 2021) for which the government has allocated 150 million dollars.
Dr. Asad Hafeez informed that the vaccine through COVAX window will be available in the third quarter which will be free of cost and cover 20 per cent of the population of the country.
He said that top priority in vaccination in the first quarter will be the front line essential healthcare workers for COVID-19, in second quarter all healthcare workers (1 Million) and 60 year+ population will be vaccinated while in the third and fourth quarter upto 20 % population will be vaccinated.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM), Dr. Faisal Sultan identified trends in the rise of COVID-19 wherein new cases are increasing and has almost reached 3,000 daily mark.
He further pointed to the additional challenges that may hamper sharing of authentic information among the citizens as well as the decision-makers.
Among these, the risk of COVID-19 related misinformation and stigmatization posed a critical challenge that would require a concerted effort on the part of all stakeholders, especially the media. He particularly reinforced the need for careful yet timely reporting with the additional challenge of fact checking for media to pursue.
The minister lauded the role of civil society and media for keeping the public informed about COVID-19 and appreciated the collaborative effort for organizing the workshop that would help the media report on the pandemic better.
He identified the risk of COVID-19 related misinformation and stigmatization as a critical challenge that would require a concerted effort on the part of all stakeholders, especially the media.
The workshop enhanced the participants’ understanding of critical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic response. The subject matter covered included understanding and access to COVID-19 data, the types of COVID-19 testing and information about vaccines.
The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Zafar Mirza, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister with sessions conducted by Dr. Asad Hafeez, Vice Chancellor National Health Services Academy, Dr. Usman Mushtaq and Dr. ShafiqRehman of National Institute of Health (NIH). Health journalists from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar working with leading publications and media houses participated in the workshop.