Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to help those wanting to travel abroad: Umar

Karachi: Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has said that the Moderna vaccine from the US will help those Pakistanis intending to travel abroad for work and study to countries that are only accepting some Covid-19 vaccines.

In a tweet, the minister, who is also the head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said US President Joe Biden's progressive policy on Covid-19 is appreciated.

The minister's statement comes following the shipment of 2.5 million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the US sent to Pakistan in partnership with the COVAX global vaccine initiative and UNICEF.

Pakistan receives shipment carrying 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine

Since the pandemic, hundreds of overseas Pakistanis have been stranded here as Saudi Arabia and some other countries in the Middle East are not accepting certificates of the Chinese-manufactured Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccine. Most of the doses in Pakistan being given are Chinese.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has seen a slight increase in its coronavirus cases, after more than 1000 infections were reported across the country for the third consecutive day. The national positivity ratio has also increased to 2.91%, according to NCOC data.

Pakistan reports highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since June 10

The novel virus also claimed 34 more lives during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 22,379. Moreover, there are 1,871 critical cases in the country.

Meanwhile, 906,387 people have so far recovered from the virus in Pakistan.