A doctor gestures while receiving a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine at a health centre in Karachi. File

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

Pakistan is expected to receive another 5.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of March, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday.

The federal government has dispatched 504,500 doses of vaccine to the provinces.

As so far only 72,882 frontline healthcare workers have got themselves vaccinated in Pakistan, the government has decided to start registering general health professionals, too, from Monday (Feb.22) for the vaccination programme.

The NCOC has announced that general healthcare workers could register themselves on www.covid.gov.pk/vaccine.

According to the NCOC data, Pakistan will receive 5.6m doses by the end of March, with 2.8m doses of Gavi/Covax expected in the first week of next month and another 2.8m doses by the second week. In all, 17.1m doses will reach Pakistan by the end of June.

Also, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan announced the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination.

In a tweet, he said: "Pak COVID-19 vaccination, next phase - now that we have expected the arrival of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in early March, all those 60 years of age and older are now requested to begin registration. Send CNIC as SMS to 1166. You will receive a reply with instructions on next steps.”

The NCOC in a statement also announced the start of registration of citizens of over 60 years for the vaccine programme, with an appeal to senior citizens to text their national identity card numbers on 1166.

Covax is an international alliance that has pledged to provide free vaccines to Pakistan’s 20 per cent population.