LAHORE: The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) Chairman Mian Nauman Kabir has asked the government to also commence corona vaccination for taxpayers at the earliest, as mere less than 2 million tax payers are supporting the economy of the whole country.
“At least taxpayers deserve this incentive of getting COVID-19 vaccinated on priority basis along with the health workers and senior citizens, which will also encourage the whole business community for documentation,” he said.
In an open latter separately written to Prime Minister Imran Khan and National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Head Asad Umar, PIAF Chairman suggested the authorities that all NTN holders, irrespective of their age, should be given COVID-19 vaccine as early as possible, as the third wave of the novel coronavirus has been spreading sharply across the country.
He asked the government to expedite the process of vaccination and supply ample quantity of doses not only to the general public but also to the trade and industry, their workers and families, especially the taxpayers.
Mian Nauman Kabir pointed out that Pakistan has clearly found a new wave of coronavirus and major cities of Punjab have reported an increased number of cases. He said that new variants like other parts of the world have also reached Pakistan which resulted in an increasing number of patients at hospitals. He warned that these new variants spread rapidly and if the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are not followed the new wave can spread severely across the country. Quoting the health experts, he said that some of the new variants could be more aggressive and dangerous too and implementation on SOPs set by the government is essential to be implemented along with starting speedy vaccination drive for the whole population including the business community, factory workers and traders for the smooth running of economy.
“PIAF proposes the government to allow private sector to import vaccine at the earliest as we need to vaccinate almost 70 million by the end of the year.” He said that presently, vaccination process has remained extremely slow even in health workers and senior citizens. He urged the trade and industry and workers to get vaccinated to protect themselves as well as their loved ones, suggesting the authorities to import the huge stock of vaccine in this regard, besides launching a robust national education campaign to inform people that the vaccines are completely safe.
He said that the country launched its COVID-19 vaccine drive in early Feb, beginning with the healthcare workers in the first phase after receiving Sinopharm doses from China. But limited number of registered doctors, nurses and paramedical staff has been vaccinated by now, as the government had not adequate stocks of coronavirus vaccines to begin vaccination of senior citizens.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021