ISLAMABAD: National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) head Asad Umar has announced that almost 1.3 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the vaccination process will be expedited after Eid-ul-Fitr.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today (Tuesday), the federal minister pointed out that the number of vaccines was not enough to meet the demand across the globe. “It is impossible to administer coronavirus vaccines to billions of people at the same time,” he said, adding that all countries are trying to procure vaccines for their citizens.
“Pakistan has the availability of 0.9 million vaccines till Monday night and 60,000 to 70,000 nationals are being vaccinated on a daily basis. The federal government has continued its efforts to make COVID-19 vaccines available in the country,” said Umar.
Asad Umar also rejected reports regarding the COVID-19 high infection rate among children. “Elderly citizens are more vulnerable to the pandemic, however, the vaccines would be made available for all nationals after Eid,” he added.
“The vaccine is effective against all COVID variants from UK, South Africa and Brazil,” he added. Umar clarified that the vaccines are being used according to their initial results and the final results will have emerged within five to six months.
The minister also asked citizens to keep registering themselves for the vaccination. He admitted that out-of-turn use of the vaccines was witnessed by some people, especially in a province.
He noted that the infection rate has visibly reduced due to the recent steps and asked nationals to take precautionary measures for the next two weeks. Asad Umar announced said that the budget will be discussed in today’s federal cabinet meeting and recommendations will be tabled before the members.
