COVID-19: Pakistan so far received more than 13 million jabs, mainly Chinese vaccines
China Economic Net
Islamabad: Pakistan has so far received more than 13 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines comprising of Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino procured from China including others through COVAX programme as the nation fights the COVID-19 pandemic, the government data said.
Pakistan began a vaccination drive in March with around a million doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China. Islamabad had received first COVID-19 vaccine consignment after a military aircraft transported it from Beijing on February 1, this year.
On Sunday a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s special flight PK6853 airlifted another batch of two million doses of Sinovac vaccine from the Beijing Capital International Airport to Islamabad.
Last Sunday also, a special flight PK 6852 had also transported a consignment of one million doses of Sinovac vaccine procured from China to fight the ongoing wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan.
The relevant authorities in China have pledged to continue uninterrupted supply of vaccine to help Pakistan defeat the deadly virus. Currently, Pakistan is facing a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic while the authorities continue to tightening the anti-pandemic measures and facilitating the vaccination drive.
The vaccination for the 30-39 age group started on over the weekend on Saturday and would continue for an indefinite period.
Pakistan is already vaccinating people aged 40 and above across the country. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the country has administered 4,956,853 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine till date, with 1,193,441 people fully inoculated.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases increased to 900,552 on Sunday after 3,084 more people tested positive, the NCOC said. The national positivity ratio has, however, fallen to 4.96 percent.
Punjab is the worst-hit region with 333,971 confirmed cases, followed by Sindh where 308,118 people have been tested positive, said the NCOC.
A total of 817,681 people have recovered in the country, with 62,620 active cases including 4,392 people who are in critical condition.
According to the NCOC, 74 people died across the country during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 20,251.
The NCOC has directed the provinces and administrative units to reverse their decision to reopen schools in high coronavirus positivity areas on Monday (May 24) because the new statistics were ringing alarm bells.
The Sindh provincial government is considering imposing a strict lockdown in the cities having a high positivity ratio, including Karachi. The provincial government has sought input from different departments.
