Kunduz steps up vaccine campaign, urges residents to get jabbed

Eighty thousand people in Kunduz have received the COVID-19 vaccine in the past six months, officials confirmed Friday.

Health officials in Kunduz province say that since the new government came in to power, 80,000 people in the provincial capital and districts have received the vaccine.

“More than 80,000 people received the vaccine in Kunduz. We call on the other compatriots to get the [COVID-19] vaccine,” said Qari Mohammad Anwar Bashir, head of Kunduz public health directorate.

“We have vaccinated more than 80,000 of the males and females [in Kunduz]. We have sites in the city and districts,” said Jamshid Sarwari, an official from Kunduz district hospital.

According to the officials, this shows an increase of 20 percent of vaccinations against the previous six months.

However, officials at the COVID-19 treatment hospital in Kunduz say that in the past three days, out of 175 corona specimens tested, 35 have been reported to have signs of a mutation or Omicron variant.

The director of public health in Kunduz also confirmed that more than 80,000 people have received the vaccine in the past six months.

He called on Kunduz residents to get vaccinated in order to prevent a fourth wave of the virus.

Meanwhile, vaccinators at the Kunduz District Hospital, are optimistic that people are willing to get vaccinated.

“More people are coming. People understand about the value of the vaccine. The people who received vaccines are safe and healthy,” said Sayed Mehran Hashimi, a vaccinator.

On the other hand, doctors at the COVID-19 Hospital in Kunduz report an increase in the number of positive cases in recent days, and say that the lack of diagnostic kits for mutations has made it difficult for them to diagnose the variant.