China played crucial role in Pakistan’s fight against covid in 2021:Planning Minister

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: Pakistani federal minister for planning and development Asad Umar has said that China had played a crucial role in Pakistan’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

Speaking to Gwadar Pro on the last day of the year 2021, Umar paid rich tribute to Iron Brother China for always standing in support of Pakistan in difficult times.

“China played a crucial role in the battle against Covid. The regular supply of vaccines and millions of them (vaccines) as gift enabled us to fight the pandemic strongly. China is a friend indeed,” he acknowledged.

Umar mentioned that the Chinese government issued special directions to support Pakistan and other developing countries amid the Covid breakout.

“Pakistan is thankful to China and as we move forward (in 2022), we hope to eliminate the pandemic,” he remarked.

Earlier in the day, Asad Umar, who is also the Chairman of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), tweeted that Pakistan had procured the target of vaccinating 70 million people by the end of 2021.

He thanked the concerned teams for their extreme efforts throughout the process. This target could only be achieved by the determination shown by all the concerned people, he added.

Umar shared the figures in which amongst the federating units, Islamabad leads with 77 % fully vaccinated people. Punjab is at 51 %, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) 46 %, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 45 %, Balochistan 42 %, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 41%, and Sindh is at 37 %.

Of the total eligible population, 46 % is fully vaccinated and 63 % has received at least one dose, he informed.

Umar applauded the government by saying that the federation procured 100% of the vaccines worth more than Rs 250 billion and had provided vaccines to all the country’s citizens regardless of the province they live in.

“We could not have achieved this massive vaccination drive without the federal government’s help,” Umar maintained.