Second phase of Pakistan’s coronavirus vaccination program begins today

ISLAMABAD: The second phase of Pakistan’s coronavirus vaccination drive targeting people over the age of 60 will begin today, Wednesday, the ministry of health said. 
The country last month launched a vaccination drive with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by longtime ally China to give to frontline health care workers as priority.
An official of the Ministry of National Health Services told state news agency APP that most senior citizens who had registered for the vaccine drive would receive a text message with further instructions.
“The senior most citizens will be the first ones to receive the doses of COVID-19 vaccine,” heath chief Dr. Faisal Sultan said.
The health department on February 15 started registering people over the age of 60 for the immunization program. Citizens were asked to send a text message with their details to 1166 or enter them on the national immunization management system (NIMS) website. Once registered, eligible citizens would be informed about their vaccine center and the date of vaccination through a text message.
Pakistan has recorded almost 600,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 13,000 deaths but has yet to receive any of the 17 million doses it is expected to get through the GAVI/WHO COVAX initiative for poorer nations.