LAHORE: The Expanded Programme on Immunisation Punjab (EPI) would launch the second round of the pediatric Covid vaccination campaign for the second dose of vaccine to children from ages 5 to 12 years in five districts of the province from Oct 31.

It would be conducted in Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, and Okara. The EPI Punjab has dedicated 6,586 teams for the campaign while 773 fixed stations had been installed, aiming for maximum coverage.

The vaccine would be given to only those children who have got their first dose in the previous round, the director of health services at EPI, Dr Ahtisham Ul Haq, said in a press briefing on Friday.

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The campaign would be conducted in collaboration with JSI-USAID.

Dr Jabbar said that globally, the pediatric Covid vaccination campaigns had shown positive results and greatly helped curtail the virus. “The results showed no harmful effects of the vaccine on children, so parents are urged to complete their children’s vaccination.”

He claimed that the second round of the vaccination campaign would be a big success as was the first and asked parents to extend their full support to make Punjab “Covid-free”.

In September, the EPI on directions from the National Command and Operation Center and the Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) conducted the first round of the pediatric vaccination campaign in which 97 per cent of children (4.6 million) were administered the first dose.

The briefing was attended by senior health officials including Dr. Rana Sohail, Director of Headquarters, Dr. Shahid Magsi, Director of the Hepatitis Control Program, Dr. Aamir Mufti, Director of CDC, senior officials of DGPR, and representatives of WHO and UNICEF were also present.

“We are hoping for as big immunization numbers as we have for adults in the province”, he added.

In September, the EPI on directions from the National Command and Operation Center and the Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) conducted the first round of the pediatric vaccination campaign in which 97 per cent of children (4.6 million) were administered the first dose.