ISLAMABAD: Pakistan in the first phase will purchase 1.1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to vaccinate health professionals across the country, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Chairman Asad Umar said on Tuesday.
While briefing the media persons on the coronavirus situation in the country, Asad Umar said the government’s decision to impose “smart lockdown” had greatly proved beneficial in the longer run as it had stopped the spread of the Covid-19.
He further said the government was taking all the measures to get a vaccine for Pakistan as soon as possible but in the meantime people should remain careful and follow the SOPs.
He said statistics had proven that the policies implemented by the government to curb the coronavirus spread had been successful. “When the second wave of the virus took over, we immediately identified the sectors that contributed most to the spread: restaurants, wedding halls and schools,” the minister said. “We took the decision to close these three sectors and the results are in front of you.”
Umar pointed out that in the first week of the second wave starting from November 30; the number of cases across Pakistan was rapidly increasing.
“From January 7, we saw that the number of patients in the hospitals has gone down.”
In the second week of December, 2,511 people were admitted to hospitals and required oxygen, while over 300 were in critical care.
But after that, you see that the cases went down and the number of people going to hospitals decreased.
This was only made possible because the government was quick in taking steps to curb the virus, the NCOC chairman pointed out.
Umar revealed that while the world was locked up in nationwide lockdowns, Pakistan opted for “smart lockdowns” to prevent losses to the economy.
He said the coronavirus had disturbed the daily lives of millions of people due to nationwide lockdown, adding that over 50 million people in the country work on daily wages. “When the lockdown was initially imposed during the first wave, nearly 20 million people lost their jobs,” he said, adding that during the period, the economy suffered immensely.
This is why the government opted for smart lockdowns this time.
“We kept industries such as construction open which helped 72 percent employees in the sector who had previously suffered.”
On the other hand, 47 percent residents used up all their savings to meet their expenses during the lockdown.
“The losses suffered by the nation could have been worse, but Prime Minister Imran Khan’s policies for industries and the health sector prevented these,” Umar remarked.
Responding to a question regarding when Pakistan is going to get the coronavirus vaccine, the NCOC chairman said the government was taking all the measures to get the vaccine as soon as possible.
The minister said the country was in talks with China for the Sinopharm vaccine.
“We will give you a good news regarding it soon,” Umar said, adding the health workers would be the first ones to be injected as soon as the vaccine comes in.
“But until that time, you have to keep following the SOPs and the precautionary measures given by the government,” he appealed to the public.
Umar said that “throughout this time, with the help of residents, media and the government policies, Pakistan has been able to combat the virus successfully and shall continue to do so to prevent a third wave.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.