Hundreds of KP police personnel get COVID-19 but force still not fully vaccinated

Just as healthcare workers continue to fall victim to COVID-19, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's law enforcement agencies are no exception.

However, despite hundreds of police personnel in the province testing positive for the infectious disease, the force has yet to be fully vaccinated, it emerged on Saturday.

Records show that more than 1,500 police personnel have contracted coronavirus thus far in the province and 44 have died.

In Peshawar, 151 police officers tested positive and 13 died, whereas in Hazara division, 434 caught the virus and 10 died.

In Mardan, 151 contracted the disease, while 10 died, whereas in Kohat 172 tested positive and four died.

Secretary Health Syed Imtiaz Shah said that police personnel aged 40 and above, are getting vaccinated just like other citizens.

He said that with limited resources at the health department's disposal, it is not possible to vaccinate the police force separately.

KP Inspector General of Police Sanaullah Abbasi told Geo News that the government has been requested to prioritise the vaccination of the police.

"Police personnel, like healthcare workers, are battling coronavirus at the frontline," he said.

The IG KP also said that the government has been requested to provide the heirs of the police personnel who died from coronavirus the Shuhda Package.