Pakistan has vaccinated over 100mn people: Asad Umar

Pakistan has partially vaccinated more than 100 million people against the novel coronavirus, out of which 75 million are fully vaccinated.

This was announced by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Tuesday. "Work not complete yet. Need to keep the momentum going," head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) tweeted.

During the last 24 hours, 811,901 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered, taking the total number to 163,648,656.

"33% of total population and 49% of eligible population stand vaccinated!" tweeted the NCOC.

Meanwhile, the country conducted 43,540 tests during the lat 24 hours, out of which 1,467 came out positive. The virus also claimed two more lives. During the last 24 hours, Sindh reported 940 cases, one death, Punjab 388 cases, one death, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa confirmed 33 cases and Balochistan recorded two cases.

Positivity rate soars to 3.66pc: Country witnessing rapid surge in Covid-19 cases: NCOC

Similarly, Islamabad confirmed 99 new cases, Gilgit-Baltistan one case while Azad Jammu and Kashmir recorded four infections.

During the last 24 hours, the positivity ratio was recorded at 3.33% while there are 615 critical Covid-19 cases in the country.

The country also reported 266 recoveries, taking the total number to 1,259,253.

Since the beginning of this year, Pakistan has seen an increase in its daily Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant. The NCOC has urged citizens to follow coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures and get themselves vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Umar urged the people to remain cautious in order to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in the face of a rising positivity rate.

“People should follow SOPs for saving themselves from Covid-19, which is currently spreading fast in the country,” he said, while addressing the prize distribution ceremony organised by the NCOC to honour teams that worked to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Umar said the people who are not vaccinated so far must get jabbed as soon as possible, adding that people who were fully vaccinated six months ago and are over 30 years of age should get a booster dose.