Over seven million Pakistanis vaccinated against Covid-19: Asad Umar

More than seven million people across Pakistan have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, according to National Command and Operation Centre head Asad Umar.

On Saturday, the country set a new record of administering over 383,000 vaccines in a day, he tweeted on Sunday. “The number of registrants is also steadily increasing and 11.663 million people have registered.”

On May 29, the government opened walk-in vaccination for people above the age of 30 years. Pakistanis above 18 can register for the vaccine now as well.

Earlier this week, Pakistan received more than 100,000 doses of Pfizer. According to WHO, the Pfizer vaccine was provided to the country free of cost through COVAX, the WHO vaccine-sharing alliance.

It will be used in the government’s immunisation drive, along with the Sinopharm, Cansino, Sinovac and Astrazeneca vaccines.

In a media briefing on Sunday, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the administration of Pfizer will begin after it’s approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan. A meeting will be held in the upcoming week.

She said that presently, Sinovac is being injected to people in Punjab. Those going for their second dose are being administered Sinopharm. “Punjab has a stock of 1.4 million vaccines and over 350 centres.”

We have begun vaccination for all teaching and non-teaching staff in the province too, the health minister pointed out, urging people to get inoculated as soon as possible.

You will first have to register for the vaccine by sending your CNIC number to 1166.

In a meeting on Saturday, NCOC announced that Pakistan will begin easing coronavirus restrictions from May 30. It made the following decisions:

• Provinces can start routine classes of 10th and 12th grades from May 31
• Exams for 10th and 12th grades will be held from June 23 to July 29
• Parks and swimming pools can be opened in districts with less than 5% positivity rate from May 30. But they can only accommodate 50% of their capacity
• Covid-19 vaccination will be mandatory for tourists above 50 years from June 1. In the case of people above 30 years, it will be mandatory from July 1. They won’t be allowed to stay in hotels, guest houses without showing vaccination certificates
• Arrivals from the UAE will have to submit a coronavirus-negative report from a reputed lab. They will be tested again upon arriving in Pakistan. Airlines bringing passengers with fake negative reports will be fined

Follow SAMAA English on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

from SAMAA https://ift.tt/34x1g5i