Sindh decides to engage private hospitals, labs in mass vaccination programme

• Mass vaccination for persons above 18 to begin in second phase, says Sindh govt
• CM Sindh questions KDA's lack of funds
• Sindh decides to take measures to encourage private sector to import coronavirus vaccine

KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to engage laboratories and private hospitals in its mass coronavirus vaccination programme.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Sindh cabinet on Tuesday, presided over by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. 

During the meeting, the coronavirus situation throughout the country and in the province came under discussion.

Read more: Sindh re-introduces COVID-19 restrictions — markets to close early, 50% work-from-home implemented

The Sindh cabinet decided to take measures to encourage the private sector to import the vaccine, allocate human resources to battle the pandemic and establish vaccination centers in the province, especially in Karachi. 

The cabinet was informed by officials of the health department that the coronavirus response last year had been characterised by a mixed public-private system. 

"The private health sector played a critical role in providing essential health services, especially when the public sector was so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients," read a statement from the Sindh government.

Mass vaccination of persons above 18 to begin in next phase

The statement noted that the provincial government had moved to vaccinate frontline healthcare workers when the first tranche of the Sinopharm vaccine was provided to Sindh.

As a next phase, the vaccination of people aged 60 years and above has been initiated. 

The vaccination of people aged 18+ on a mass scale will begin in the subsequent phase.

Read more: Will Sindh close schools following Punjab amid virus fears?

The chief minister said that the government must seek the commitment, capability and capacity of the private sector to import COVID-19 vaccines "to fulfill this national duty most effectively and efficiently, for the relief of citizens and in a bid to help the country to return to normalcy."

The chief minister directed the Sindh government to help the private health sector import coronavirus vaccines and called for a registration mechanism under the Sindh Health Care Commission so that everything, including the price of the vaccine, remains under control.

CM Sindh questions KDA's lack of funds

The local government department also urged the chief minister to approve a loan of Rs844.16 million to clear the outstanding dues of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), which will be paid back through the auction of KDA plots.

The chief minister said that the KDA, local bodies and market committees were autonomous bodies and they have an established system to pay salaries, gratuities and pensions to their retiring or retired employees from their own resources. 

He questioned why these bodies have failed to maintain financial discipline and frequently keep requesting the provincial government for grants to pay pensions.

Read more: Almost 100 Sindh police officers test positive for coronavirus in a week

CM Murad then raised questions about the state of the local government's pension. The cabinet decided to constitute a committee under Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah to examine the pension funds of KDA, KMC, DMCs, other local bodies, market committees and other organisations.

The committee will investigate how funds were invested by these organisations and try to figure out why a serious financial crisis has originated in these institutions.

"The organisations which were overstaffed will also be identified and a proposal for developing a `surplus pool’ will be submitted so that they can be absorbed somewhere else," read the statement from the Sindh government.