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Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Dr Faisal Sultan on Friday urged parents to get their school-going children inoculated, saying it was mandatory for students aged 12 and above to get fully vaccinated by the end of November.
Addressing the media in Islamabad, the federal health minister said that Oct 31 is the last date for partial vaccination whereas Nov 30 is the last date for complete vaccination against Covid-19. He added that after Nov 31, unvaccinated students will not be allowed to attend school.
Dr Sultan said Saturday has been fixed for vaccination of children in schools, adding that the last weeks of October and November have been fixed for the vaccination of students in their institutions as well.
The minister further said this condition also applies to seminaries who are required to get their students vaccinated by the said dates.
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According to Dr Sultan, mobile teams will visit schools to administer the jabs as the government did not want students to lag behind in their studies due to the closure of educational institutions.
Sultan elaborated that the government took the decision as it was observed that school-going children were a primary vector during the fourth Covid-19 wave.
During the presser, he also allayed the concerns of parents regarding vaccines. Dr Sultan said vaccines were safe and approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO), adding that parents should not hesitate from getting their children vaccinated.
Sultan maintained that the vaccination was important not only to ensure uninterrupted studies but also to take the country towards normalcy.
The premier’s aide further said the decision of allowing schools to resume normal classes from Monday has been taken in view of the decrease in Covid-19 cases across Pakistan. He also expressed satisfaction that the vaccination campaign was moving forward smoothly, saying a total of 90 million vaccine doses have been administered as of yet.