An officer of the District Health Office in Karachi's East district was suspended on Sunday for allegedly violating the standard operating procedures to facilitate the vaccination against Covid-1 to some politically-influential people in Karachi.

The Covid-19 vaccination campaign was launched in Karachi last week, and as per government guidelines, the first phase of the drive was supposed to be strictly limited to frontline healthcare workers, followed by people aged 65 years and above.

The Sindh Health Department suspended DDO for Health Dr Aneela after reports surfaced in the media that daughter and son-in-law of Muhammad Zubair, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former Sindh governor, have been administered coronavirus vaccine in violation of the vaccination policy of the federal government.

The provincial health department ordered an inquiry into the issue and directed the inquiry committee to submit its report within three days. Federal Minister Asad Umar and Spokesperson for Prime Minister Dr Shahbaz Gill had tweeted that coronavirus vaccine was being administered to close relatives of influential political figures in Sindh.