Tag: #health

NCOC’s new web portal for verifiable vaccination certificates

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ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Wednesday issued a new web portal to download easily verifiable Covid-19 vaccination certificates. The new website portal would generate a Covid-19 vaccination certificate that could be verified through QR Code scanning and also by visiting National Immunization Management System”s (NIMS) website, the nerve center of the country in fight against Covid-19 pandemic took to Twitter to announce the development. It wrote, “Now COVID Vaccination Certificate can be verified through QR Code or by visiting http://nims. nadra. gov. pk/nims/certificate. ”The tweet also shared a card depicting the website link and necessary instruction to use the web portal. The instructions highlighted that in order to verify Covid-19 vaccination certificate the vaccinated individual should scan the QR Code given on the vaccination certificate or enter the serial number mentioned on the vaccination certificate in NIMS website. The individuals who have been vaccinated before June 21, 2021 can now download a verifiable vaccination certificate for free, it added.

NCOC’s new web portal for verifiable vaccination certificates
NCOC’s new web portal for verifiable vaccination certificates

Pakistanis may travel to Saudi Arabia after AstraZeneca jab

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NUT Desk- ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan Tuesday said that Pakistanis travelling to Saudi Arabia can get the AstraZeneca vaccine after showing documents at the mass vaccination centres.

The country’s top health official shared that the government has decided to revise guidelines for AstraZeneca vaccines and will allow citizens who are 18 or older to get the jab which was earlier restricted to those aged over 40.

Protests had erupted across the country asking the government to allow the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The kingdom has only approved Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, while in Pakistan, Chinese vaccines are mostly being used.

The SAPM said that Pakistanis who are travelling to Saudi Arabia can get the Oxford vaccine after showing their documents, adding that the government is in talks with Saudi health officials to allow Chinese vaccines.

Earlier, in May, the Pakistani health authorities had restricted the use of Oxford for people under 40.“(On the recommendations of an expert committee), we have updated the interim guidelines (for the use of  vaccine AZD1222) today. There are two key changes: Use among less than 40 years be restricted irrespective of gender (till the availability of further data). 2. Interval between doses fixed 12 weeks instead of range of 8-12 weeks mentioned in an earlier version,” Director General Health Pakistan Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar had told the English Newspaper.

He had maintained that both above changes will lead to operational ease and added that guidelines remain interim as new data from around the world keeps pouring.

AstraZeneca vaccine safe for Covid-19, insists WHO

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GENEVA: The World Health Organization said Friday there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca´s Covid-19 jab after several countries suspended rollout over blood clot fears, while the hard-hit United States exceeded 100 million doses of vaccine administered to its people.

The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining the safety data coming in, stressed that no causal link has been established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and clotting.

“Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris added, stressing that any concerns over safety must be investigated.

UK-based AstraZeneca insisted its jab was safe, adding there is “no evidence” of higher blood clot risks.

Asian-Americans organize not just for health but hate

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WASHINGTON: As the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged America, Esther Lim grew more worried by the day for her parents´ welfare and her own — not just for their health, but their safety in the face of rising attacks against Asian-Americans.

When her friend was hurt in a hit-and-run accident — in what she firmly believes was a hate attack — she decided to take action.

“I wanted to do something more proactive rather than wallow in fear,” Lim, who is Korean-American, told media.

So Lim, 32, bought her mother pepper spray, started learning judo from her father — and wrote “How to Report a Hate Crime,” an information booklet with advice on dealing with the police and phrases written in English to show to bystanders, to ask for help.

As of this year, Lim has begun printing the booklet in six languages — Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese — and has more on the way, including Tagalog and Khmer.

She distributes them to friends and Asian community centers in Los Angeles. She feels her work is more important than ever. Reports of attacks, primarily against Asian-American elders, have spiked in recent