ISLAMABAD: As the number of active cases crossed the 900,000 marks for the third time since the coronavirus pandemic began last year, Pakistan on Sunday received two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China.
As per details, 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.
Pakistan on May 5 had received another 120,000 doses of the Chinese COVID vaccine as supplies increase and more people are inoculated against the vaccine.
A PIA plane carrying the vaccine doses purchased from China landed at Islamabad airport. The officials of the National Institute of Health (NIH) received the vaccine shipment.
Pakistan has signed contracts for the purchase of the COVID vaccine with several pharmaceutical companies including Chinese firms. The plane carrying the vaccine doses has been purchased by Pakistan from China.
Last week, three special airplanes of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) carrying one million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China reached Islamabad. The government dispatched three Boeing-777 PIA airplanes to China to accelerate the delivery of vaccines to combat the coronavirus epidemic.
On April 25, three PIA planes carrying a consignment of one million COVID-19 vaccine doses had landed in Islamabad. Pakistan will receive two million doses of coronavirus vaccine from China by the end of this week.
The relevant Chinese authorities have pledged to continue the uninterrupted supply of vaccines to help Pakistan defeat the deadly virus. According to sources, Pakistan has so far received over 13 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines comprising of Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino procured from China including others through the COVAX program.
Currently, Pakistan is facing a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic while the relevant authorities continue to tightening the anti-pandemic measures and facilitating the vaccination drive. According to an official, the vaccination for the 30-39 age group started on Saturday and would continue for an indefinite period.
Pakistan has already been vaccinating people aged 40 and above across the country. According to the NCOC, the country has administered 4,956,853 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine till date, with 1,193,441 people fully inoculated.
It may be mentioned that Pakistan began a vaccination drive in March with over a million doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China. Islamabad received the first COVID-19 vaccine consignment after a military aircraft transported it from Beijing on February 1, this year.Â
Pakistan has surpassed the grim milestone of 900,000 cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, as it continues to grapple with the virus since it first emerged in February last year.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported another 3,084 cases and 74 deaths in the previous 24-hour period. The national tally of coronavirus cases has reached 900,552 while the death toll stands at 20,251.
The number of active cases has reached 62,620 while there are 4,392 people in critical condition. There were 62,064 tests conducted in the past day, while the positivity ratio has dropped to 4.96%. Overall 817,681 people have recovered from the virus, including 3,826 in the past day.
Punjab still remains the most affected region although Sindh has reported a rising in cases since the past few days. Punjab has recorded 333,971 cases and 9,768 deaths, while the number of active cases in the province stands at 23,764. Islamabad has recorded 80,312 cases and 745 deaths while there are 7,628 active cases in the federal capital.
Sindh has recorded 308,118 cases and 4,909 deaths while the number of active cases in the province has increased to 22,212. Â The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands at 129,413 and 3,924 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 24,517 cases and 270 deaths.
