Pakistan administers over 1.1m Covid-19 doses in a day as cases surge

Pakistan administered 1,101,973 doses of the coronavirus vaccine during the last 24 hours as it ramps up the inoculation drive to curb the spread of Covid-19.

As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), so far 50,985,184 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Pakistan since it began its inoculation drive earlier this year.

Of these, fully vaccinated citizens are around 14.8 million, according to data available on the official government portal. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has recommended that women who are pregnant or lactating go for vaccination as the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

US sends 3.7 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to Pakistan

The government has also issued new measures to curtail the spread of the deadly virus by making vaccination mandatory for all. Earlier this week, the government announced that unvaccinated school teachers and staff will also not be allowed to work after October 15.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and head of the NCOC Asad Umar said that unvaccinated people working and visiting malls and restaurants will also not be allowed to enter after September 30.

Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to undertake domestic and international air travel from September 30, Umar added. Moreover, Pakistan will also not allow entry to passengers coming from abroad who are not full vaccinated.

Pakistan has been vaccinating its population with Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino vaccines.

Pakistan to start vaccinating citizens aged 17-18 from Sept 1

On Thursday, Pakistan received 3.7 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility. The US has now provided over 9.2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, including 5.5 million jabs of Moderna, to Pakistan this year.

The latest shipment by the US comes at a time when Pakistan is battling with the fourth wave of coronavirus with active cases jumping to over 92,000 and closing in on the highest number of 108,642 witnessed during the first spell last year.

During the last 24 hours, Pakistan's national positivity ratio was recorded at 6.42%. Out of 62,496 tests conducted, 4,016 came out positive, taking the national tally to 1,144,341.