Meeting vaccination target a must to prevent 5th Covid-19 wave: Asad Umar

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has warned that despite the decline in the Covid-19 cases, the whole nation will remain vulnerable if a large number of individuals fail to get vaccinated against the deadly virus.

In a tweet on Thursday, the head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that they all must ensure that there is no fifth wave of Covid-19, adding that the second dose of the vaccine is vital for protection against coronavirus.

In another tweet, Umar termed the vaccination progress in Islamabad, Peshawar, Gilgit and Mirpur as "best", while terming the progress in Skardu, Charsadda and Sargodha as "good".

However, the minister said that vaccination progress needs improvement in Hyderabad, Nowshera, Faisalabad, Quetta, Karachi, Mingora and Mardan.

Covid-19: Pakistan reports lowest single-day tally in a year

"District admin & health teams in these cities need to improve performance," Umar tweeted.

Pakistan has steadily seen a decline in its daily infections with the situation easing amid the country's vaccination drive. So far, over 95 million doses have been administered in the country.

Authorities have also gradually expanded the inoculation, while easing restrictions that recently saw educational institutes opening throughout the country. Similarly, vaccination has been expanded to include school children with the threshold being lowered to 12 years of age.

Meanwhile, Pakistan conducted 44,334 tests during the last 24 hours, out of which 622 came out positive. The coronavirus positivity ratio continued to remain below 2% for the sixth consecutive day and now stands at 1.40%.

Meanwhile, the novel virus claimed 16 more lives, taking the death toll to 28,328.