At over 1.5m, Pakistan administers highest number of Covid-19 doses in a day

Pakistan administered 1,590,309 doses of the coronavirus vaccine during the last 24 hours, the highest number since it began its vaccination drive, with 35% of its eligible population having so far received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

This is the second consecutive day that the country has set a record of administering the highest number of doses in a single day. On August 30, it administered 1,405,352 doses across the country.

“Single day vaccination crosses one and a half million for the first time. Yesterday 1.59 million vaccinations were carried out,” Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar announced in a tweet on Wednesday.

He further said that during the last 24 hours, both the first and the second doses were the highest with 1,071,000 and 519,000 doses administered, respectively. In another tweet, the minister shared that Pakistan had set a target of partially inoculating 40% of people aged above 18 in at least 24 cities by the end of August.

He shared that 20 cities met this target, while Hyderabad, Mardan, Nowshera and Quetta were the four cities to miss it.

“35% of national eligible population has received at least 1 dose. Islamabad is at 69%, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 51%, Gilgit-Baltistan 39%, Punjab 37%, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 35%, Sindh 32% and Balochistan 12%,” Umar tweeted.

As per the latest data by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 56,768,446 doses have so far been administered in Pakistan.

Sinopharm, Sinovac and Pfizer to be administered as Covid-19 booster shots: NCOC

On Tuesday, the NCOC had announced that Sinopharm, Sinovac and Pfizer coronavirus vaccine booster doses will be administered to expatriates and Umrah pilgrims.

In its guidelines issued for Covid-19 booster shots, the NCOC said that citizens who have been vaccinated for 28 days or more will be eligible for the booster dose. The Pfizer vaccine will only be administered to children between the ages of 12 and 17.

Additionally, Sinopharm, Sinovac and Pfizer vaccines will be administered to people aged 18 and above, the NCOC said. The booster shots will be administered to people at designated vaccination centres.

Meanwhile, during the last 24 hours, 53,637 tests were conducted out of which 3,559 came out Covid-19 positive. So far 1,163,688 coronavirus cases have been reported in Pakistan since the outbreak last year.

Pakistan reports 3,909 Covid-19 cases as 4th wave continues

Moreover, the national coronavirus positivity ratio was recorded at 6.63% during the last 24 hours.

Overall, there are 5,690 critical coronavirus cases, out of which the condition of 148 patients has deteriorated. Meanwhile, the active number of cases has reached 93,901. Over 4,140 more people recovered from the deadly virus in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 1,043,898.

The country's death toll rose to 25,889 after the virus claimed 101 more lives.