Upcoming Covid-19 vaccination drive: Health professionals provided training, NCOC told

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) was informed on Monday that the authorities have provided necessary training to the health professionals from provincial to tehsils level to carry out a swift upcoming Covid-19 vaccination drive.

The meeting held here under the chairmanship of the NCOC national coordinator Lt-Gen Hamooduz Zaman Khan, was also informed that Pakistan, in 24 hours has witnessed 23 deaths due to the coronavirus which is the lowest number in the past two months.

The meeting was also informed that positive cases tally since the Covid-19 outbreak has reached 534,041 as countrywide 1,629 more cases were reported. The tally of fatalities is now 11,318.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad.

Till now 241,200 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 154,017 in Punjab 65,532 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 40,815 in Islamabad, 18,750 in Balochistan, 8,825 in Azad Kashmir, and 4,902 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore, 4,568 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 3,892 in Sindh, 1,839 in KP, 468 in Islamabad, 256 in Azad Kashmir, 193 in Balochistan, and 102 in GB.

According to the NCOC, Karachi has the highest positivity rate in the country at 11.39 percent, followed by Peshawar 9.72 percent, Mirpur 9.62 percent, Hyderabad 6.89 percent, Lahore 5.73 percent, Quetta five percent, Bahawalpur 4.32 percent, Faisalabad 4.18 percent, Abbottabad 3.11 percent, Islamabad 2.39 percent, Multan, 2.06 percent, Swat 1.89 percent, Gwadar 1.84 percent, and Rawalpindi 0.46 percent.

The NCOC meeting discussed updates from the provinces on positivity ratio and critical data as well as implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs or alternate measures to treat the Covid-19 other than medical treatment), preparations for vaccine inoculation and national vaccine strategy.

In their briefing to the NCOC, the provincial chief and health secretaries including Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), informed that all necessary measures were being taken prior to the availability of the Covid-19 vaccine.

It was further informed that all foreign travellers, especially from the UK and South Africa were being tested at the airports.

Moreover, the forum discussed the complete procedure of vaccination, its time of availability, distribution process and most demanding areas where it can be used at the earliest in detail.

The government would keep the record of vaccinated people even those who traveled from abroad would have to provide a legal document confirming that they had been vaccinated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021