KARACHI: The Expo Centre momentarily put their vaccine campaign on hold when vaccinators and data entry operators initiated a strike over delayed and unpaid salaries, forcing many visitors to leave without getting immunized.
The protest threw the mass vaccination centre into mayhem as the healthcare workers chanted slogans against the lax government, claiming they had not been given their due compensation for eight months. However, the vaccination procedure did resume when government officials came over and assured them that they should be compensated soon enough.
It was the second time within the past four months that vaccination had been temporarily halted because of a similar issue.
“The practice was briefly paused because several workers at the Expo Center facility are employed directly under the health department and paid their salaries every month. Third-party employees planned the protest itself,” clarified Atif Vighio, a spokesperson for the health department.
When questioned over why the Health Department didn’t resolve this issue sooner, Mr Vighio said that the staff’s complaints would be looked into and their salaries should be cleared soon. More than 200 people had been employed for the registration purpose at their facility.