quackster-is-big-problem-in-punjab-dr-yasmin-rashidPunjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Monday warned of the ‘side effects’ of coronavirus vaccines, advising people to vaccinate against Covid-19 at their ‘own risk’, a private TV channel reported.
Speaking to media in Lahore, Dr Yasmin Rashid said it is not yet possible to say for sure how long the coronavirus vaccine remains effective. “No one, not even Covid-19 patients, will be vaccinated by force,” she said. “Research on the treatment of the coronavirus pandemic is still going on all around the world. We will make the public aware of the side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine,” she added.
The provincial health minister said there were ‘side effects’ of vaccine invented to prevent coronavirus. “There have been deaths due to the Covid-19 vaccine in some countries as well, therefore, everyone will be vaccinated at their own risk,” she underlined.
Dr Rashid spoke of the coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs), saying people have been repeatedly asked to ‘fully and completely observe them’. Lahore has lockdowns in 18 neighbourhoods at present, she added, noting that the number of infected patients was gradually declining.
The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) – which monitors coronavirus-related developments across Pakistan – would provide the vaccines to the entire country from Wednesday, she said.
The Punjab health minister claimed that contact-tracing in her province was on a higher scale and better than the provinces. Health workers in both private and public hospitals would be given free Covid-19 vaccines, she said, adding that the first priority would be to administer the drug to those over the age of 60 and then the people above 50. A large portion of the population would successfully be vaccinated in the next four to five months, she noted.
