Punjab authorities arrest 16 suspects over fake COVID-19 vaccination entries

By
APP

September 24, 2021

A woman holds a small vial — labelled Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine — and a medical syringe, October 30, 2020. Photo: Reuters
A woman holds a small vial — labelled "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" — and a medical syringe, October 30, 2020. Photo: Reuters

  • Meeting headed by Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal reviews the situation of pandemic, medical facilities, and vaccinations.
  • Chief secretary says those involved in fake vaccination entries do not deserve any leniency.
  • Directs divisional commissioners to play their role in achieving the national goal by meeting the vaccination targets.

LAHORE: In an action against the officials involved in making false entries of coronavirus vaccinations, authorities arrested 16 individuals in 12 cases across Punjab.

The action has been taken in Sialkot, Vehari, Rahim Yar Khan, Lodhran, Lahore, Faisalabad, Chiniot, and Multan. Details of the cases emerged at a meeting, chaired by Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, at the Civil Secretariat on Friday.

The meeting reviewed the corona pandemic situation in the province, medical facilities in hospitals, and the pace of vaccination.

The chief secretary said those making fake vaccination entries do not deserve any leniency. He directed the divisional commissioners to play their role in achieving the national goal by meeting the vaccination targets.

He said that in extraordinary circumstances, officers had to work harder to perform their duties, adding that it is evident from the data that the vaccine had proved highly effective against the coronavirus and that 79% of hospitalised patients were unvaccinated.

The primary healthcare secretary briefed the meeting that an average of more than 517,000 people was being vaccinated daily across the province.

He said that there was ample stock of vaccines in the province and vaccination of people between the ages of 15 to 17 years had been started as per the guidelines of the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC).

So far, the first dose of the vaccine has been given to 31.6 million people in the province, while both doses have been administered to 11 million people, he said.

Primary Health Secretary said that the rate of positive cases of COVID-19 in three cities — Lahore, Sargodha, and Muzaffargarh — was more than 8% at present.