Pak minister warns health workers to get vaccinated

Islamabad, March 26 A Pakistan minister has warned health workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or risk unemployment amid a third wave of the pandemic.

"You can lose (your) job if you did not get vaccinated," Azra Pechuho, the Sindh province's Health Minister, said in a video message on Thursday.

At least 33,356 health care workers out of a registered 142,315 in the province have not received the vaccine, dpa news agency quoted the Minister as saying.

Pakistan is using the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine,.

A survey conducted at the start of the year revealed around half of all citizens are sceptical of the vaccines and would not go for a jab.

"Health care workers were reluctant due to doubts created by government's decision of not vaccinating people above 60 in initial days," Qaiser Sajjad, secretary general for the Pakistan Medical Association, told dpa on Friday.

But he said the government now deems the vaccine safe and is asking all citizens and frontline health care workers to get vaccinated.

Sindh has been hit hard by Covid-19, reporting more than 264,000 coronavirus cases, the highest in the country.

On Friday, 4,368 new infections and 63 related deaths were reported by the Health Ministry.

Pakistan has so far recorded 645,356 cases and 14,091 deaths in total.

( With inputs from IANS )