China helps Pakistan meet Covid-19 vaccination target of 70 mln
ISLAMABAD, Sep 11(Gwadar Pro)-According to official sources from the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC), a large number of vaccines imported from China are helping Pakistan meet its COVID-19 vaccination target of 70 million.
Talking to Gwadar Pro, the sources said, “Around 93.36 million COVID-19 vaccines in total were procured by Pakistan till date, out of which 78.25 million were the Chinese vaccines. Therefore, the major portion of vaccine that arrived in Pakistan is from China.”
Pakistanis have been assured of receiving as many as 100 million vaccine doses from its' iron-brother 'and closest strategic ally. The country of 220 million has mainly relied on vaccines imported from China, including Sinopharm, CanSino and Sinovac.
According to recent figures, at least 50 million people in Pakistan have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 20 million are fully vaccinated. By the end of 2021, Pakistan is expected to meet its target of 70 million.
Giving the latest figures, Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, said, “In the early days of the vaccination campaign we had set a daunting target of vaccinating 7 core people by the end of this year.”
“Happy to report that 5 crore people have now received at least 1 dose. More than 2 crore were fully vaccinated. Inshallah will meet & surpass the target,"he added.
The NCOC has extended the closure of educational institutions in 23 districts of Punjab and KP and Islamabad due to the high prevalence of Coronavirus.
According to the official notification, all public and private schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutes in these cities will remain closed till 15 September.
Moreover, NCOC has also extended the ban on all types of indoor and outdoor gatherings, all types of indoor gyms, and inter-city public transport till 15 September. It will decide whether to lift or further extend these restrictions on 15 September.
In the last 24 hours, 3,689 new COVID cases were reported across the country, while 83 people succumbed to the deadly virus. The infection rate in the country has been recorded at 6.03%.
