The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Thursday approved issuing certificates for partial vaccination and the people who have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and are aspiring to travel abroad can now get the vaccination certificate.
The certificate will be issued through National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) online system, while the national health ministry is authorised to make changes to the certificate as it may seem fit, the NCOC said.
The government also decided to prioritise giving the Pfizer vaccine to those who have a work visa, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Thursday. The aim is to inoculate Hajj pilgrims and students proceeding for education abroad first.
The federal minister said that the government is working hard to expedite the vaccination process across the country so that restrictions are lifted and businesses are resumed. Umar, who also heads the apex COVID-19 supervisory body, said that the vaccine acceptability issue is global and urged the other nations to address it. While responding to a question regarding the Pfizer vaccine, which the country received under the COVAX facility, the minister said that Pakistan received a limited quantity of the vaccine this month due to which the government has decided to give the vaccine to those who are going abroad where it is mandatory.
The first shipment of 106,000 doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 mRNA vaccine has already arrived through COVAX, while authorities are also planning to procure ‘one to two million doses’ of mRNA vaccine directly from the manufacturer through the National Disaster Management Authority. Officials at the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) said that since they have received a limited supply of Pfizer’s vaccine so far, it would only be used to inoculate “those with compromised immunity, transplant patients, pregnant ladies, children of 12 years and above in need of vaccination” and those recommended by the committee of experts.
The national tally of the total active Covid-19 cases on Thursday was recorded at 53,099 with 2,028 new cases emerging across country. According to the latest update issued by the NCOC, 92 people died, 78 of whom were under treatment in hospitals and 14 in their respective quarantines or homes.
There are 3,630 patients under treatment in critical care in various Covid-dedicated healthcare facilities. The national Covid positivity recorded 3.93 percent during the last 24 hours.
The maximum ventilators are occupied in four major areas including Peshawar 30 percent, Lahore 33 percent, Bahawalpur 36 percent and Multan 58 percent. The maximum oxygen beds are occupied in four major areas of Gujranwala 36 percent, Bahawalpur 33 percent, Karachi 35 percent and Multan 43 percent. Around 430 ventilators are occupied elsewhere in the country while no Covid-affected person is on ventilator in Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
Some 51,523 tests were conducted across the country on Wednesday, including 15,008 in Sindh, 21,178 in Punjab, 8,309 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,638 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,409 in Balochistan, 356 in GB, and 625 in AJK. Around 852,574 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients. Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 926,695 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment COVID-19 patients so far, including AJK 19,344, Balochistan 25,370, GB 5,608, ICT 81,446, KP 133,450, Punjab 340,989 and Sindh 320,488.
