KARACHI: A COVID-19 vaccination drive in educational institutions in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province got off to a slow start on Monday with just the distribution of parental consent forms, after the country’s pandemic response body barred students under 17 from getting jabs, a spokesperson for the Sindh health department said.
Sindh Health Minister Dr. Azra Pechuho last week announced that a vaccination drive for students of private and public schools and colleges would kick off from September 6.
According to a handout issued by the Sindh health department, a total of 1.4 million students in grades 9 to 12 would be vaccinated during the drive, to be carried out by 2,527 teams.
However, almost all high school students in grades 9 to 10 are below 17 years of age, which is the National Command and Operation Center’s (NCOC) age of eligibility. The NCOC is Pakistan’s federal pandemic response body.
“The NCOC didn’t give approval to continue with the vaccine drive [for students below age 17],” Sindh Health Department spokesperson Mehar Khurshid told Arab News on Monday. “The vaccines will be administered at schools to students who are 17 years old and above.”
The drive was officially launched today, Monday, with parental consent mandatory for students below 18 years of age, Khurshid said.
On Sunday, Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said parents couldn’t be forced to get their children vaccinated.
“Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah has refuted a message of ‘directives’ to parents,” his spokesperson Saeed Memon said, adding that the minister had only “requested” parents to get their children vaccinated.
Speaking to Arab News, Haider Ali, the chairman of the All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association, said the vaccine drive would run in higher secondary schools and colleges and consent forms would be issued to those who met the age criteria set by the NCOC.
The decision, he said, was taken at a meeting of Sindh education department officials and representatives of private schools and colleges, which reviewed the age criteria and other requirements.
“Only those students are going to get vaccines whose age is 17 or above and whose parents grant their consent by signing the forms we have distributed today,” Ali said.
Once consent forms are collected, the data would be shared with relevant district health officer who would form vaccination teams for higher secondary schools and colleges, he added, saying high school students were practically out of the drive.
The COVID-19 positivity ratio has remained consistently high in Karachi and Hyderabad, which are the largest and most densely populated cities of the province. However, the number of new coronavirus cases in Sindh declined from 2,734 on August 4 to 1,016 on September 5.
According to the health department, 27,483,661 vaccine doses had been administered in the province so far, covering 34.83 percent of its eligible population.
The province has also ordered new measures to stem the spread of the virus and further boost its vaccination program. Provincial authorities on Sunday requested the NCOC to direct banks, post offices and courier services not to accommodate the unvaccinated. Sindh authorities have also asked restaurants and hotels to provide dine-in and dine-out services to only those who had vaccine certificates.
School vaccination drive off to slow start in Sindh as new coronavirus restrictions sought
https://arab.news/gfs9p
School vaccination drive off to slow start in Sindh as new coronavirus restrictions sought
- Pakistan’s pandemic response body bars administering vaccines to students below 17 in the province
- Provincial authorities want banks, post offices, courier services not to accommodate unvaccinated people
Pakistan beefs up security in Karachi, Islamabad and Skardu as Khamenei protests kill 24
- At least 14 killed in northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, 10 in Karachi during Sunday’s clashes between protesters, law enforcers
- Police close off roads leading to key government buildings in Islamabad, US consulate in Karachi with army deployed in Skardu
ISLAMABAD/GILGIT: Authorities beefed up security by deploying additional police contingents and sealing off most roads leading to government buildings in Islamabad, Karachi and Skardu on Monday after violent protests in the aftermath of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killing led to the deaths of at least 24 people in Pakistan.
At least 10 people were killed and 73 others sustained injuries on Sunday in clashes with law enforcement outside the US consulate in Karachi. Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the consulate, with videos showing angry crowds armed with sticks as they smashed doors and windows.
In Islamabad, protesters entered the Red Zone which houses key government and diplomatic offices in the capital, prompting authorities to fire tear gas to disperse them. Similarly, people gathered outside the press club in the northwestern city of Peshawar to protest Khamenei’s killing as well.
Skardu in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region saw violent clashes on Sunday as well, as protesters set fire to and vandalized several buildings, including United Nations (UN) regional offices. Clashes with law enforcers caused the deaths of at least 14 people in the region, among them a soldier, a senior official told Arab News.
“Seven protesters were killed in Gilgit and seven in Skardu,” GB Caretaker Information Minister Ghulam Abbas confirmed. “One was soldier martyred in Skardu while the injured there were around 50.”
The minister said the station house officer and deputy superintendent of police in Skardu were also injured, along with two soldiers, while 10 properties were damaged in the clashes. He said police have registered complaints against the culprits for the violence.
“Schools are closed on Monday and courts’ activities will also be closed,” Abbas said. “A curfew has also been imposed for three days initially in Skardu and Gilgit cities from Mar. 2 to Mar. 4.”
The flare-up also prompted authorities to call in the army in Skardu under Article 245 of the Pakistani constitution, state media reported on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Islamabad Traffic Police said entry into the Red Zone area will remain open for people only through the Margalla Road and another route through Marriott Hotel.
“All other entry points leading toward the Red Zone will remain closed,” it said in its advisory.
A spokesperson for the Karachi Traffic Police said in a press release that the MT Khan Road, from PIDC road to the Mai Kolachi Road railway crossing, will remain closed on Monday for general traffic due to security reasons.
The US consulate, which was the scene of clashes between protesters and police, is located on Mai Kolachi Road near MT Khan and PIDC.
“The general public is requested to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and traffic police to avoid inconvenience and difficulties,” the Karachi Traffic Police spokesperson said.
MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS
The violence on Sunday came hours after Iranian authorities confirmed Khamenei was killed in coordinated strikes carried out by the US and Israel, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and triggering protests in several countries.
According to US officials, the operation targeted Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense systems, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. The US military said it suffered no casualties and reported minimal damage to its bases despite what it described as “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.”
Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and targeting US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. The Emirati government said its air defense systems intercepted dozens of Iranian missiles and drones, but debris from the interceptions caused material damage in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and at least one civilian, a Pakistani national, was killed. It issued rare emergency alerts urging residents to seek shelter, underscoring how the conflict has rippled far beyond Iran’s borders.
The Israeli military said dozens of Iranian missiles were fired toward Israeli territory, many of which were intercepted. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said a woman in the Tel Aviv area died after being wounded in a missile strike.
