ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that the government plans to open registration for COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens after Eid.
While speaking to reporters, Asad Umar said vaccinating the population has always been a priority. He said the government began a phased-wise approach in the beginning and are now expanding it. He said that vaccination of people aged 50 will begin in a few days.
The minister also said Pakistan is in touch with Russia to procure its Sputnik V vaccine on a government level and is awaiting response. This comes as Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that Pakistan will buy 150,000 vaccine doses from Russia.
Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), termed the next five to six weeks “critical” for the ongoing third wave of the virus in Pakistan. He said so far 1.1 million were inoculated as part of the government campaign while 14,000 people had received vaccination through the private sector.
The minister said China was Pakistan’s primary source for vaccination for now, adding that the Cansino COVID-19 vaccine will also be available in the country after Eid. He said they will vaccinate more than 125,000 people per day after Eid.
He expressed concern that the current number of critical care patients in the country was higher than during the first coronavirus wave. There are 4,116 critical case as of Friday which has increase the strain on hospitals and health centres. He stressed on strict enforcement of SOPs (standard operating procedures) to down the rising rate of infections
Pakistan reported over 5,000 cases for the second consecutive day amid the third wave of the pandemic as the number of active case in the country has reached 61Yesterday, Pakistan reported 5,329 coronavirus cases and 98 deaths during the last 24 hours. This was the highest number of daily Covid-19 infections so far this year.
