Expressing concern over the rapidly escalating COVID-19 situation in the country, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday accused the government of failing to secure vaccines in time.
In a statement, Bilawal said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would have to account for every single rupee of the Coronavirus Relief Fund and asked him to tell the nation as to what happened to his so-called Tiger Force that had been formed last year to implement the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the country to curb the spread of COVID-19, reported Dawn.
The statement from the PPP chairman came a day after Imran Khan announced that the army would be deployed to assist the police in enforcing the SOPs against COVID-19.
Bilawal further commented that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was dragging its feet on ensuring the availability of vaccines in the country. "If vaccination continues at the current rate, only 20 per cent of the population in Pakistan will be vaccinated in more than three years," he said.
Stressing that mass vaccination was the only way to avoid economic problems caused by the pandemic, he further alleged that the people of Pakistan were suffering due to the complete failure of the PTI government to procure the vaccine in a timely manner.
"COVID vaccine is a basic human right, which should be provided free of charge or at least at the real world market price," he said.
The PPP chairman that the pandemic had gone out of control in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to the incompetence of the governments in these provinces, adding the third COVID-19 wave was caused by the UK variant that had spread due to the government's incompetence in ensuring strict surveillance, isolation and tracing at airports, reported Dawn.
"How can we expect a common man to follow the SOPs in a country where the prime minister himself does not follow government advisories and refuses to take mandatory health regulations seriously?" he added.
Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity ratio jumped to over 10 per cent on Sunday, a day after the country reported the highest number of deaths due to the novel coronavirus.
As many as 5,611 fresh infections were reported in the last 24 hours, while 118 people succumbed to the virus in the same period, ARY News reported citing the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
( With inputs from ANI )
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