The employees of the health department of Dera Ghazi Khan have started extorting money from the overseas Pakistanis visiting the vaccination center for receiving jabs against the coronavirus pandemic, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

According to reports, the health department staff is charging Rs1, 500 for administering the vaccine to people who intend to go to Saudi Arabia and who don’t want to wait in queues for getting the shots.

Civil Lines police have even caught a health department employee with an injection and Rs6,000 in his pocket.

Similarly, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are being openly flouted at the center established at a medical college as people keep pushing each other in a rush to get vaccinated and do not maintain social distancing.

Center In-charge Dr Shan Mustafa told the media that the center was understaffed due to the ongoing anti-polio campaign. “However, vaccination of the people has been continuing since morning,” he said, adding, “Tents have been erected to protect the visitors from sunshine. However, we are facing difficulties due to the huge rush of people.”

Reporter Raza Malik