Pakistan to start vaccinating citizens aged 17-18 from Sept 1

Pakistan announced on Tuesday that it will be vaccinating citizens aged 17 and 18 against the novel coronavirus from September 1, as the country expands its inoculation drive amid the ongoing fourth wave of Covid-19.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar and Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan held a joint press conference on Tuesday and announced new measures the government is taking to deal with the spread of the coronavirus.

Pakistan is currently battling a fourth wave of the deadly disease with active cases jumping to over 91,000 and closing in on the highest number of 108,642 witnessed during the first spell last year.

As the government steps up efforts to vaccinate a greater number of people, Dr Sultan also shared that the process of vaccinating citizens aged 15-16 will start soon. He shared that the government is also initiating the vaccination process for health-compromised patients, provided they are above 12. They will be vaccinated with a specific vaccine at specific centres, Dr Sultan added.

The SAPM also shared that the government will inoculate those people who require a particular vaccine to travel abroad provided that they show their visa and vaccine requirement of the country they are travelling to.

Meanwhile, addressing the presser, Umar gave August 31 as the deadline to all those in the transport sector, as well as those in educational institutions, to get at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. He added that those who are not fully vaccinated by September 30 will not be permitted to work.

Complete lockdown not the solution, says Asad Umar

The NCOC head further said that unvaccinated people working and visiting malls and restaurants will also not be allowed to enter after September 30.

Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to undertake domestic and international air travel from September 30, Umar added. Moreover, Pakistan will also not allow entry to passengers coming from abroad who are not full vaccinated.

Number of active Covid-19 cases over 91,000 in Pakistan

Meanwhile, students aged 17 and above were also given a deadline to get at least one dose of the vaccine by September 15 and the second dose before October 15, Umar announced.