Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Chairman Abrar ul Haq on Wednesday expressed concerns over hurdles being faced by Pakistanis via-a-vis international travelling due to lack of universal acceptability of different brands of Covid-19 vaccine being administered in the country.
In a statement, the PRCS chairman said that under the directions of Honorable President of Pakistan the PRCS through the platform of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world’s largest humanitarian network, has also been playing its role to convince relevant quarters to grant universal acceptability to all brands of Covid-19 vaccine so that hurdles being faced by Pakistanis in international travel could be brought to an end.
Abrar ul Haq said vaccination of people against coronavirus has started in almost all countries of the world and currently, multiple brands of vaccine produced by different countries are available in the international market. “As scores of vaccine brands are available in the international market, every country has approved some specific brands for domestic use, in line with the local rules and regulations and policies framed by the respective governments. This has led to the issue of universal acceptability of brands of Covid-19 vaccines developed so far,” he added.
He said according to new global travel guidelines, Covid-19 vaccination is mandatory for all the inbound passengers. “However, since every country has approved some specific brands of vaccine, visitors are facing hurdles in international travels for having been administered with a brand of Covid-19 vaccine in their home country which has not been approved by the host country,” he said. “The lack of universal acceptability of all brands of vaccine is not only hurting individual travelers but also those proceeding abroad for trade, education, employment, medical treatment or other purposes,” he added.
Abrar ul Haq said currently thousands of Pakistanis are also facing the similar situation and scores of Pakistani labourers working overseas, who had come to Pakistan to spend their holidays, are unable to go back despite having been administered the vaccine for the reason that the vaccines brands being administered in Pakistan have not been approved by several other countries so far. “It is feared that if left unresolved, this issue may grow into another crisis for the world, which is already staggering under the burden of Covid-19 pandemic,” he cautioned.
