Lahore Airport, several Saudi-bound passengers were not issued boarding passes as they failed to present the mandatory polio vaccination certificate, sources revealed.Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, hundreds of Pakistani Umrah pilgrims were offloaded from flights at airports nationwide for not meeting the requirement. Saudi Arabia has made polio vaccinations mandatory for Umrah pilgrims coming from Pakistan.

Adding to the challenges, obtaining a polio vaccination certificate is a lengthy process. While oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops are available at any health facility, only District Health Officers (DHOs) are authorized to update vaccination records in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) system.This limitation has led to significant delays, as DHOs struggle to process the overwhelming number of certification requests.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)