1. Here's a thread to counter some of the opinions presented here as facts which is problematic because there is no data or context to support them. The picture presented about covid response, vaccination campaign and awareness campaigns is detached from on-ground situation. https://twitter.com/zburki/status/1386013278682419201

2. Before I get into the thread, please this is not to troll or direct abuse at her or anyone else who has been purporting these claims. I believe her that everyone cares about poor people and their livelihood and the arguments are made with good intentions.

So first the vaccination campaigns. There has been constant narrative that there is no vaccination campaign all due to the fault of Pakistan. This is utterly true because of two reasons. First, Pakistan has a vaccination campaign, not the most enviable one, but one not too bad

for the developing world. Second, the low numbers of vaccinations is largely not because of govt or Pak's fault. So for the first point there is a lot of comparison being made with South Asian neighbors. Yes the chart looks very dramatic but look at the y-axis of the chart.

Taking all the countries in our neighborhood, most of them have still just covered less than 5% of the population compared to ours at 1.5%. Obviously higher than us but way below the threshold required to get the outbreak under control. Also, please note that Pakistan has lacked

because of geopolitics because most of the neighbors have benefited from India's donations and contracts with its Serum Institute, on top of China's largesse, which was not an option available to us. Most of these countries have achieved a similar vaccination rate if you take

this out and also now their vaccination campaigns are about to come to a halt because of India's export bans. The govt could've been a bit proactive in procurement by making early deals but then again we did not have a $10bn war chest like US to place bets on all candidates.

In our case we could not afford to place bets and had to wait before solid data to make deals. Indonesia made deals with Sinovac and received millions of doses. It's a vaccine that has very variable data with some groups reporting just 50.7% immunity barely above the threshold.

We did not have the luxury of throwing away money and placing bets. We instead relied on Covax which has been sacrificed at the altar of capitalism, greed of West and India's explosive outbreak. In all of this context Pakistan's slow campaign makes a lot of sense and is not very

far off of other developing nations with similar economy to ours because all of such nations are struggling currently to procure vaccines patented and hoarded by the Global North. Direct your outrage towards them, not much so towards the government. As far as the awareness

campaign of vaccines is concerned, it has been ongoing on every single call that users make, television, radio and other forms of media. There has been no anti-vax message sent out by government and everyday the govt and NCOC urges people to register. Obviously the increase

in coverage and centers is required but it's not an issue of resources or willingness, it's more an issue of the unreliable supply of vaccines. The govt is ready to expand once it is able to receive larger consignments. Just btw, govt has signed contracts for 60m+ doses

but being a not so rich country it is lower on the preference of suppliers. Given all this the govt has carried out a very equitable, reliable and transparent vaccination drive prioritizing the at-risk groups the most. All this is not to say that some missteps were not

made in the way but then again it's a pandemic that everyone is still learning about. From US to EU to Japan, all have struggled to get their vaccination drives going involving some major early blunders. I don't know what else do you want given the context and our situation and

how people claim that there's absolute failure and non-existent vaccination drive.
Now to the covid response itself. There have been some accusations made on govt not spending resources to strenghten HC infrastructure. This is far from truth. Lets take KP example. We have

increased our low-flow O2 bed capacity 10x. HDU capacity 6x and ICU capacity 3x. We have installed central oxygen systems and O2 storage in more than 15 major hospitals across KP with more in pipeline. We have made contracts with suppliers to ensure steady supply of O2. We have

made COVID treatment covered under Sehat Insaf Cards. We have added HC staff and trained them. All this has enable to weather this third wave which has far higher numbers than 1st wave much smoothly till now given we were on the brink of collapse with lower numbers last year.

Yes the sky is the limit but then you only can do as much as the meagre resources you have available with you. Similarly, Punjab and Fed Govt have done the same to increase capacity and invest in HC system. As far as the NPI and PIs are concerned, there another misconception that

govt has left people at the mercy of the virus and has no messaging. Firstly, given the experiences of world over, complete lockdown has proven to be a very harmful and the most extreme solution which even developed countries can't afford. While I agree with the criticism on

allowing weddings and other gatherings earlier, it is disingenuous to say that govt had to will to ban such events. As soon as we say a rise in third wave, all such gatherings were banned and still remain banned. Every week with increasing numbers more and more restrictions are

imposed which means that there is method and logic to govt's strategy. There can be some more restrictions obviously but to say that govt has a failed strategy is completely wrong. You have no idea the pressure govt is sustaining from small/large retailers, restaurants,

marriage halls and several other businesses because of closures. And this isn't just coming from the owners, it's coming from the daily wager to higher earning staff working in these businesses. It has still placed restrictions because of the numbers. Failure would be

if PM Imran like PM Modi was addressing big political rallies right now, our health minister saying we are COVID endgame and sitting with some quack herbal doctor advocating for a herbal remedy for COVID. There has been no such irresponsible behavior exhibited by higher officials

except for a few instances where some ministers acted irresponsibly but no way near what Indian govt did. Our messaging has been consistent and serious. Every call reminds us of what wave we are in and what we need to do. Provincials health minister appear every day on TV

and social media to re-emphasize on the seriousness of the disease and importance of following SOPs. There is NCOC meeting everyday and everyday important decisions are made. In India there taskforce equivalent of NCOC didn't meet for 2 months jbtw. Yes, our enforcement

could be much better but to say that our messaging has been off is far from truth. From PM to provincial ministers every one has talked about the seriousness and there have been appropriate bans with evolving data every week considering the balance of economy and COVID.

Skepticism and criticism of authorities during this pandemic is critical and important but it's also important to consider the context and ground realities. It's not fair to make such sweeping statements without any substantive evidence to back it up.

Does this mean our response has been the best? NO Does this mean we can do a lot more? YES
Does this mean that the picture some here are painting of our response as abysmal and missing is true? BIG NO. Lets be critical of govt fairly while also urging people to follow SOPs.