PMA Urges Govt To Take All Stakeholders On Board On Vaccine Policy

Secretary General of PMA-Central Dr Qaiser Sajjad on Monday urged the government to take the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and other professional bodies on-board regarding availability of COVID 19 vaccine AstraZeneca, its level of efficacy, required dosage and other relevant details

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jan, 2021 ) :Secretary General of PMA-Central Dr Qaiser Sajjad on Monday urged the government to take the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and other professional bodies on-board regarding availability of COVID 19 vaccine AstraZeneca, its level of efficacy, required dosage and other relevant details.

Dr Qaiser, in a statement, said as the authorities concerned had announced availability of the much needed vaccine in a month or two, the associated modalities must also be shared with equal effort to expedite the process of procurement.

He emphasized that no compromise might be made in administration of the vaccines to front-line workers, pertaining to both the public and private medical centers sectors, directly handling the affected patients.

In particular context of growing incidence of COVID induced deaths among healthcare providers, he said 175 doctors and 30 paramedics had passed away due to it and those, who succumbed to the infection, mainly comprised general practitioners, pathologists, paediatricians, ENT specialists, opthalmologists, dentists, anesthesiologists and gyenacologists.

He claimed that most of the deceased healthcare providers contracted the infection while examining or attending the COVID patients but could little realize the fact, reporting with sudden deterioration and little provision to get needed intervention at any dedicated unit.

Dr Qaiser Sajjad said the people above 60 suffering with health conditions as diabetes, cancer and other infectious or non contagious diseases must also be treated as high risk groups along with senior citizens aged 70 or above, who might not be reporting with any other ailment, yet due to age factor do fall in the group of people with compromised immunity.

They were extremely vulnerable to the infection and must be necessarily vaccinated against COVID, he said.

Seeking cooperation of media to sensitize people about importance of the COVID vaccine, he said it should not only be available free of cost but people belonging to high risk groups in particular and masses in general ought to be adequately motivated about its importance.