Pakistan kicks off coronavirus vaccination drive

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday launched Pakistan’s anti-Covid vaccination drive, with the first jab administered to a doctor at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. ARY News reported.

The first vaccine was administered under the supervision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Frontline health worker Dr Rana Imran became the first person in Pakistan to receive the Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.

While addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said health workers at the forefront of the country’s fight against the pandemic will get the jab in the first phase. He also thanked China for gifting 0.5mn doses of vaccine to Pakistan.

“The distribution of coronavirus vaccine will be fair and it will be distributed among the provinces on an equal basis,” said the prime minister.

Pakistan kicks off coronavirus vaccine drive from healthcare workers. The first vaccine was administered under the supervision of Prime Minister Imran Khan pic.twitter.com/kX3iIaGsHu

— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) February 2, 2021

Also Read: PAF plane carrying first batch of COVID-19 vaccine reaches Islamabad

PM Imran said that as compared to other countries, Pakistan remained safe from the worst impacts of the deadly virus and the rate of coronavirus infections is declining in the country.

He once again appealed to masses to wear face masks and follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) to avoid the spread of deadly coronavirus.

It is pertinent to mention here that a special Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane with the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses reached Islamabad on Monday.

The plane carrying 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine, gifted from China to Pakistan landed at the Noor Khan Airbase.

Read More: Sindh to begin vaccination from Feb 3, says Azra Pechuho

The vaccine will be transported to Sindh and Balochistan by air while to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by road.

Separately, COVID-19 vaccine will be stored at seven separate locations in the country for the vaccination process.

According to sources, seven cities across the country has been selected for the storage process as both the Centre and provinces had expressed their satisfaction over the systems developed in the storage centres.

Pakistan Covid cases

Pakistan has recorded 63 more coronavirus-related deaths in past 24 hours, surging the overall death toll to 11,746.

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 63 more lives and 1,220 fresh infections were reported.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,285 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,881 patients are still in critical condition.

The total count of active cases is 33,365 and the positivity ratio is recorded at 3.14 per cent.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 547,648.

A total of 38,813 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 502,537 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 8,005,794 samples have been tested thus far.