UN team arranging enough Covid-19 vaccine dozes for 20pc of Pakistan’s population: Spokesman

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (APP):A United Nations team in Pakistan is working with COVAX, the global vaccine equity initiative, to supply enough doses to vaccinate 20 per cent of country’s population, after the arrival on Saturday of more than 1.2 million [AstraZeneca] dozes, a UN Spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that the UN team, which is led by Resident Coordinator Julien Harneis, has informed UN Headquarters that the second shipment of another 1.2 million doses was expected in the coming days, and that it is working with COVAX to get more.

“Our colleagues are also helping on the health front, including enhancing water, sanitation and hygiene in healthcare centres, as well as training frontline health workers on COVID-19 infection prevention and control,” the spokesman said.

He said the team had provided personal protective equipment to more than one million health workers and police officers.

Pakistan has stepped measures to get the coronavirus pandemic under control that has since its breakout in March 2010 infected over 800,000 people, and claimed over 18,000 lives.

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