AS the world is shaken by danger of a new variant of the Covid-19, Pakistan is, luckily, one of the few countries of the globe that have taken prompt and effective precautionary measures to deal with the challenge – thanks to the proactive approach of Federal Minister Asad Umar who heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a platform that evolves and coordinates all Covid-related policies and actions.
After the timely decision of the Government to ban flights from some African countries, the NCOC head, on Monday, announced the launching of a big vaccination campaign in two/three days to help reduce the threat.
Different parts of the world including some neighbouring countries were badly affected by different variants of Coronavirus but Pakistan did not witness a threat of that magnitude mainly because of the dynamism of NCOC and its head as speedy decisions were taken in respect of precautionary measures and vaccination drive.
The way Pakistan handled the Covid-19 situation and made the vaccination a resounding success is quoted as a role model all over the globe.
It has all along been the effort of Asad Umar to sensitize people about real dangers without creating panic and by reinforcing confidence of the citizens in the ability of the government to tackle the crisis effectively.
The measures announced by the Government on Monday clearly show that the authorities concerned are fully alive to the situation.
The steps like revival of track and trace system, increase in the number of daily tests, an aggressive inoculation campaign and possibility of a booster shot would surely help minimize risks for the people.
However, it is also the responsibility of the citizens to cooperate in terms of use of masks, social distancing and getting them vaccinated properly so that there is no need for re-imposition of drastic curbs.
