Punjab: Another fake vaccine entry made under Nawaz Sharif's name

By
Ummay Farwa
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif looks out the window of his plane after attending a ceremony to inaugurate the M9 motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad, Pakistan February 3, 2017. — Reuters/File
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif looks out the window of his plane after attending a ceremony to inaugurate the M9 motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad, Pakistan February 3, 2017. — Reuters/File

  • Suspects Rauf and Saqib have been arrested.
  • First fake entry was made at NIMS, Lahore.
  • Suspects used Nawaz's CNIC for data entry.


LAHORE/NAROWAL: Another fake entry in the name of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been made at a vaccination centre in Narowal, the city's deputy commissioner said Wednesday.

"The suspects had used Nawaz Sharif's name for the data entry [...] they had used the former prime minister's identity card to get the entry done," the deputy commissioner added.

The suspects, identified as Rauf and Saqib, have been arrested, the deputy commissioner said, adding that action would be taken in line with the law.

The first fake coronavirus vaccine entry made using the former prime minister's name was at the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) at the Government Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital on September 22.

As per the fake entry, Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in London, got his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac at 4:03 pm Wednesday at the hospital.

Following Nawaz's fake entry at NIMS, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed and Minister for Health Punjab Dr Yasmin Rashid had termed the matter a "conspiracy".

Rasheed had said the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) was not to blame, as it had issued vaccination certificates to as many as 7.5 million people.

Meanwhile, the Primary and Secondary Health Care Department Punjab has constituted a two-member committee to investigate the matter within the next 24 hours.

The committee has been tasked to determine the officials responsible for the fake entry and point out any other negligence that had caused the incident, the notification from the health care department said.