Without ID proofs, 3 million people including refugees in Pakistan may miss out on Covid-19 jabs
May 22, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 22 : At least three million people, including unregistered refugees, are likely to miss out on Covid-19 vaccinations in Pakistan due to lack of proofs of their identity, reports The Dawn.
As per the publication
a prove-your-identity condition may leave three million people in the country without coronavirus vaccines to fight against the ongoing global pandemic.
Currently, only Pakistani nationals or immigrants who have either computerised national identification cards (CNIC) or official refugee status can receive the jabs.
Pakistan has so far vaccinated nearly three million people, a ratio well below that of India.
Over 1.5 million unregistered refugees living in Pakistan, particularly from Afghanistan, will miss out on the vaccination for not having identity documents.
Besides, thousands of CNICs have been blocked in recent years by the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) for different reasons.
There are around 2.8 million documented and undocumented Afghan refugees in Pakistan, making it the world's second-largest refugee population after Syrians in Turkey.
Pakistan has registered 102 more deaths due to Covid-19 and 3,070 new infections in the last 24 hours on Friday. According to The News International, Pakistan's national tally of active cases reached 63,229 COVID cases. During the past 24 hours, the national coronavirus positivity ratio was recorded at 5.95 per cent.
Around 810,143 people have recovered so far countrywide that resulted in the over 90 per cent recovery ratio. Around 20,089 deaths have been recorded in the country since the pandemic began last year.
