5,000 Pakistani refugees to get COVID-19 jabs in Madhya Pradesh's Indore

INDORE: About 5,000 Pakistani refugees from the Hindu Sindhi community living in Madhya Pradesh's Indore will be administered COVID-19 vaccines, an official said on Sunday.

The representatives of the Pakistani refugees from the Hindu Sindhi community had recently requested the administration for anti- coronavirus inoculation, District Immunization Officer Dr Praveen Jadia told PTI.

"This demand has been accepted following the state government's approval. These Pakistani refugees will now be able to receive anti-coronavirus jabs at the city's vaccination centres by showing their passport as the identity card," he said.

Jadia estimated that about 5,000 Pakistani refugees are living in Indore and most of them are settled in the city's Sindhi Colony area.

"We are administering anti-COVID 19 doses to all adults on humanitarian grounds. Last month, we had vaccinated a Dutch citizen who had come to Indore for some work," he recalled.

Indore district, which is the worst hit by the pandemic in Madhya Pradesh, has so far recorded 1.52 lakh COVID-19 cases including 1,370 fatalities, according to officials.

About 13.53 lakh people were administered the first dose of the vaccine in the Indore district while 2.35 lakh people had received both doses.