RAWALPINDI: While the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has been repeatedly calling on people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the district administration has quietly closed the vaccination centre at Red Crescent Hospital.

       Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif Sports Complex vaccination centre had also been shut down.

       On Sunday, people visited the sports complex at Shamsabad for their booster dose but were informed that the facility had been closed and vaccinations were now being carried out at Red Crescent Hospital near Holy Family Hospital. However, upon reaching Red Crescent, they found the premises closed as well.

       Talking to Dawn, Mohammad Saad, 54, a resident of Satellite Town, said he visited the vaccination centre at Shamsabad but the staff present there told him to visit Red Crescent to get vaccinated.

       However, when he reached there, he found the doors of the Red Crescent vaccination centre closed, he said, adding that he had no option but to return home without getting his booster dose.

       Sohail Ahmed also faced a similar situation. “I visited Red Crescent vaccination centre but failed to get my second dose as it was closed,” he said.

       A senior official of the District Health Authority told Dawn that the vaccination centre in Shamsabad was closed on Sept 15, 2021 due to the cricket matches being played at the stadium.

       When contacted, District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Faiza Kanwal said the vaccination centre had been closed because of the two-week Reach Every Door (RED) drive being carried out in the district to administer Covid-19 vaccines to people at their doorsteps.

       Other than that, she said, vaccination was available in all three main hospitals of the garrison city, the tehsil headquarters hospitals, basic health units and rural health centre.

       Under the drive, she said over 35,000 people over 12 years of age were given the vaccine on Sunday alone.

       She said there were over 1,800 teams that were going door to door in the district, adding that the campaign would continue till Feb 14.

       Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2022