ISLAMABAD: Dr Faisal Sultan Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Wednesday said that the government is making sincere efforts to ensure the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine at all vaccination centres and more doses are expected to arrive soon.

In a media briefing, Dr Sultan said that so far 20 million citizens have been vaccinated as the government secured sufficient doses in the month of June to ramp up the vaccination drive in the country.

He dismissed talk of vaccines having run out in Pakistan as "heresay" and said that shortages were a "global phenomenon". He said that the vaccine situation in the country would improve after June 20 when more vaccines would reach Pakistan. It is not clear which vaccines will be arriving at that time.

He said that the government was in contact with local and provincial administrations to make up the shortfall. “We are carrying out load balancing and redistribution locally to manage the situation across the country.”

Dr Faisal said: “We have two million doses available and vaccinations will continue to protect our citizens from carrying the coronavirus.” The premier’s aide on health said that there was no harm if the second dose of vaccine was delayed by six to eight weeks instead of a routine three to four-week duration in between jabs.

He advised citizens to strictly follow COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in offices and markets to prevent the disease. “COVID-19 is a deadly virus but we can control it just as we controlled it by following the SOPs during the first and second waves.”