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COVID-19 Vaccination Policy for Pakistani Citizens Traveling Abroad

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Many countries around the world as well as different organizations including corporations and educational institutes have made vaccination mandatory for entry, work, study, or stay. To facilitate those individuals, National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), has devised policies which enable Pakistani citizens working abroad on work visas/ Iqamas, or student visas to get vaccinated, as required by their host country for entry. Furthermore, the Government of Pakistan is providing booster shots to Pakistani citizens who have already been vaccinated once but require a specific vaccine (e.g. Pfizer, Moderna or Astra Zeneca) to enter another country for work or study.

In this article, we will the vaccination policy for overseas Pakistani citizens traveling abroad.

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1. Procedure for Vaccination of Pakistani Citizens Traveling Abroad

Pakistani citizens traveling abroad including people traveling on a work permit, students, and seafarers can walk into a nearby COVID-19 vaccination center with their passport and valid visa to get vaccinated. You can find the contact details for your nearest COVID-19 vaccination facility from this list of COVID-19 vaccination centers in Pakistan or call the Sehat Tahaffuz Helpline at 1166 for more information.

Note: In case you are not sure about the availability of the required vaccine type that you need, you can call your nearby vaccination center to confirm the availability of the vaccine.

Vaccination Process

If you are a Pakistani citizen with a valid work visa or Iqama, study visa or a registered Seafarer from Ministry of Maritime Affairs you can get vaccinated as per the process mentioned below.

Note: As per policy, children aged 12 and above are only being administer the Pfizer, Sinovac, and Sinopharm vaccines.

  1. Walk into any COVID Vaccination Centre, show your passport and visa to the vaccination center staff. If you have any documents from your workplace, university or host country requiring specific vaccine, also take them along with you.
  2. The vaccination center Staff will check your documents, make an entry into the database, after which you will be administered the required vaccine.
  3. You can download your vaccination certificate from NIMS website or visit your nearest NADRA center. You can learn about the procedure in details from this Bolo article.

2. Booster Shots for Pakistani Citizens Traveling Abroad

The Government of Pakistan has recently introduced a policy to give paid booster shots to those who are already vaccinated but require a different vaccine to enter a second country for work, study, Hajj, or travel purposes. This policy is applicable for individuals who are 12 years of age or older.

Vaccination Process

  1. Identify nearby vaccination center which is offering booster or additional shots.
  2. Citizens who need to travel can get 1-2 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine free of cost with a minimum gap of 21/28 days from previous dose.
  3. Walk in  your nearest COVID-19 vaccination center with all the required documents (it is recommended that you take your travel documents and photocopies along).
  4. The vaccination center Staff will check your documents, make an entry into the database, after which you will be administered the required vaccine.
  5. You can download your COVID-19 vaccination certificate from the NIMS website or visit your nearest NADRA center.

You can also read the detailed guidelines by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) for administering of booster shots via this link.

COVID Vaccination Certificate for Pakistani Nationals Who Have Been Vaccinated Abroad

As of August 26, 2021, the Government of Pakistan has started releasing COVID-19 vaccination certificates to citizens who have received vaccine doses from abroad. You can simply enter your immunization records on the NIMS website here and acquire your certificate once your record is verified.

Helplines for Vaccination of Pakistani Citizens Residing Abroad

Under the directions of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Pakistan, all Pakistani Missions abroad have established 24/7 helplines for coordination and assistance of Pakistani citizens abroad, as part of COVID-19 safety and assistance measures with a dedicated focal person for the purpose. If you are a Pakistani citizen who is studying or working abroad and for some reason are unable to get COVID-19 vaccine in your host country or need any other kind of assistance with COVID-19 related issues, you can contact the Pakistani Mission near you for help. You can find the details of the focal person for the Pakistani Mission near you on MOFA’s website here.

Ask Bolo

For queries related to COVID-19, self-quarantine, COVID-19 vaccination, and other service options in Pakistan, you can send a private message to the Bolo team via the Bolo Facebook page. Our team of moderators answer queries from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

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