At least half of Islamabad's eligible population fully vaccinated: Asad Umar

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that Islamabad has become the first city in Pakistan to have at least 50 percent of its eligible population (15 years & older) fully vaccinated.

In a tweet on Sunday, Umar said that 71 percent of people in Islamabad have received at least one Covid vaccination dose. "Need to see an acceleration of the second dose in other cities," he stated.

On September 10, Umar said that Pakistan had administered at least one dose of anti-Covid jabs to 50 million people while more than 20 million are fully vaccinated.

In the tweet, he said, “In the early days of the vaccination campaign we had set a daunting target of vaccinating 7 crores (70 million) people by the end of this year. Happy to report that 5 crore (50 million) people have now received at least 1 dose. More than 2 crore (20 million) fully vaccinated. Inshallah will meet & surpass the target.”

Pakistan picks up vaccination pace as Covid-19 cases rise

On August 24, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan announced that from September 1, people over the age of 17 years would be able to get the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and would have to be fully vaccinated by October 15 in order to enter educational institutions.

He said all possible efforts were being made to vaccinate a maximum number of people at the earliest.

Covid cases

Meanwhile, at least 58 people died while 3,153 new infections were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) stated on Sunday.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, the death toll in Pakistan has reached 26,720.

The NCOC stated that 3,153 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours with a 5.45 percent positivity rate. Of the total number of cases, 5,370 patients are in critical condition. The total number of infections in the country currently stands at 1,204,520.

Meanwhile, 57,792 tests were conducted across the country during this period. At least 3,797 people recovered from the deadly disease in 24 hours while 320,071 people were fully vaccinated.

Country records highest number of Covid-19 cases

Since the Covid outbreak, Sindh has reported the most number of infections with 444,464 cases, followed by Punjab with 413,182 infections. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (168,258), Islamabad (102,617), Balochistan (32,569), and Gilgit Baltistan (10,162). The tally of coronavirus cases in Azad and Jammu Kashmir stands at 33,268.

Earlier, in wake of rising Covid cases, the government decided to vaccinate children aged 15 years in the country. The government has decided to launch vaccination of children of up to 15 to 18 years of age.

The vaccination drive for the children between 15 to 18 years will begin from September 13 (tomorrow) and they will be inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine.

Pakistan records highest Covid-19 positivity since May 29

The NCOC has on Saturday announced that young people between the ages of 15 and 18 will be administered the Pfizer vaccine. Mobile vaccination teams will be formed to visit schools and colleges across the country for the immunisation of students. The doses will be available at all major vaccination centres as well.

Earlier this month, the government commenced vaccination for people of and above the age of 17 years. It is compulsory for students to get fully vaccinated by October 15.