ISLAMABAD: In a meeting with Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday, clerics and religious scholars agreed to use mosques, imambargahs and religious seminaries to raise “effective and positive voices” motivating the public to get vaccinated.

Pakistan last week opened up its vaccination campaign to everyone aged 19 or older as it scrambles to protect more of its 220 million people.

Pakistan initially had to deal with vaccination hesitancy and a shortage of vaccine supplies and had limited shots to people aged 30 or over. But with purchases and donations from China and allocations from the World Health Organization and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, it has now secured almost 20 million doses and is keen to get them out into the population.

Religious clerics from across the country and the country’s health officials attended Wednesday’s meeting and released a joint statement saying encouraging vaccination was “one of the duties of scholars.”

“Scholars and clerics have expressed satisfaction over the composition of vaccines currently registered in Pakistan for the prevention of coronavirus,” the statement read, adding that clerics would use Friday sermons to create awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated.