Pakistan pace up Covid vaccination to record tally in 24 hours

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has boosted its vaccination drive to curb COVID-19 with maximum inoculation of vaccine doses in a day as the fourth wave of the pandemic rages in the country, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday said that the country administered record 9,04830 vaccine shots in a day.

Pakistan has geared up its vaccination campaign to vaccinate maximum population to contain Covid-19 in the country.

On the previous day, 8,67,226 vaccine doses were administered in 24-hour-period, which was also record number of shots in a day.

Total vaccination numbers have reached to 2,96,48,055, the NCOC said in its statement.

NCOC earlier, revised its guidelines, allowing Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for general public in a bid to inoculate more people.

According to new guidelines issued by the National Ministry of Health, the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine can be administered to the general public after July 31.

The vaccine would be available for people at all vaccination centres of the country, sources said.

Separately in its fight to resist flagrant Covid spread, the Sindh government has imposed lockdown in Karachi till August 08.

Pakistan continues to record a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases as the country has registered 4,950 new infections over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Saturday.

The NCOC said that the country’s number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,029,811, including 940,164 recoveries, adding that the positivity rate of infections was recorded at 8.46 per cent.

The COVID-19 claimed 65 more lives across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 23,360, the NCOC said, adding that 3,187 people are in critical condition.