*Following the resurge of COVID-19 across Pakistan, vaccines to ward offthe winter flu around the world has gone short from the markets in thecountry due to increase in demand, doubling the risk of global pandemic.*

Many governments around the globe including United States and Europe haveencouraged citizens to get shots of flu vaccine this year.

The main motive behind the move was to inoculate earlier than usual andcover a bigger portion of the population to reduce the burden on healthservices.

However, in developing countries including Pakistan, the availability ofsuch vaccines would be limited, that could double coronavirus threat andthe flu.

As per Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS)spokesperson Dr. Waseem Khawaja, “Flu shots were not available this yearwhich has resulted in increased influx of seasonal flu patients.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani, head of planning and development atthe health department in Islamabad, describing the non-availability of thevaccine was due to “exceedingly greater demand from manufacturers bydeveloped countries this year in the face of COVID-19.”