Islamabad: Pakistan today reported 40 deaths and 1,245 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last twenty-four hours. With the latest figures, the country’s total number of infections have surged to 568,506 while the death toll stands at 12,527.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), there are 1,626 critical cases in the country. In the last one day, 1,243 cases were recoveries from COVID-19 taking the overall recoveries to 531,840, the NCOC portal further reveals. The active cases are 24,139, still an alarming figure while the positivity rate is 3.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, the country will start receiving coronavirus vaccine doses from next month and will administer them to 20 per cent of the country’s population free of cost.
At a press conference, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Faisal Sultan revealed the country would receive 2.8 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through Covax Programme — COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access — probably by March 2 after which the next phase of vaccinations against the coronavirus would begin.
Covax is a joint venture of 64 higher-income economies that is a global initiative which brings together the governments and the manufacturers to ensure eventual COVID-19 vaccines reach those in greatest need.
According to the SAPM, under the Covax facility, Pakistan will receive a total of 45.5 million doses of COVID-19.
Speaking of the current status of procurement, the PM’s special assistant said in the first quarter (January-March), the government will be able to procure one million vaccine doses. “We believe that we will be able to obtain more doses in future,” he said.
Free vaccination
The SAPM said once registration of the citizens aged 65 or above is completed, their vaccination process will begin in March.
First they will have to register by sending the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) number to 1,166 then they would receive jabs a replywith further information about the mechanism for getting vaccinated.
While giving a breakup of the country’s population the SAPM said Pakistan’s population was 220 million, while the people under 18 were approximately 120 million.
“Thus vaccines are approved for the adult population and if we can inoculate 70 per cent of our population, I expect the country to achieve immunity.”
The supply of vaccines will be completed in phases as the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will also arrive in Pakistan during the initial phase, whereas Pfizer vaccines will be sent by COVAX in the second phase. Besides, Pakistan is likely to get 17.1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines by June including 7 million vials.
from World,Europe,Asia,India,Pakistan,Philipines,Oceania,Americas,Africa Feed https://ift.tt/3dQannR
No comments:
Post a Comment