108 million Pakistanis immunised against COVID-19: stakeholders inform NCOC

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to review the progress of nationwide vaccine administration on Thursday was informed that a total of 108 million people have been vaccinated across the country.

NCOC National Coordinator Major General Zafar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, and National Disaster Management Authority chairman attended the meeting.

A comprehensive future vaccine strategy was presented before the forum while the meeting placed a particular emphasis on the obligatory vaccination regime.

Meanwhile, the NCOC appreciated all the federating units reaching out to the population and facilitating necessary vaccine administration. It also expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as well as the national immunisation management system.

Moreover, the forum appreciated the pandemic control mechanism in various sectors, particularly in terms of the implementation of NPIs in mosques and the role of ulema in ensuring communication on immunization.

'48% of eligible population partially vaccinated in Pakistan'

 48% of the population has received at least one COVID-19 jab, NCOC head and Planning Minister Asad Umar said  Thursday.

The minister took to Twitter to appreciate the Punjab government for taking lead in the vaccination campaign from other provinces.

 Umar said that more than half of Punjab’s eligible population has received at least one jab of the coronavirus vaccine.

“Punjab becomes the first province to have more than half of its eligible population with at least one dose at 52%,” he tweeted.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the federal minister revealed that 48% eligible population has received at least one dose of COVID-19. He maintained that Sindh’s 40% and Balochistan’s 17% population have partially been vaccinated so far.

“Federal territories leading in vaccination with Islamabad 87%, AJK 59% and GB 54%,” he added. Overall, Pakistan’s 48% of the eligible population has received the first vaccine dose, the minister said.

NCOC starts rolling back COVID-19 restrictions from cities with 60% vaccination rate

Earlier on October 31, The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had decided to roll back all Covid-19 related restrictions from cities where at least 60 per cent of the population had gotten itself vaccinated against the disease.

The decision had been made in an NCOC meeting headed by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar after reviewing progress in vaccination campaigns in various cities.

In its statement, the NCOC had declared Islamabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Gilgit and Mirpur as “best cities” for achieving vaccination of 60 per cent of their population.

Rawalpindi, Skardu, Hunza, Peshawar, Jhelum and other cities had been declared “vaccinated” as 40 per cent to 60 per cent of the population in the cities has gotten the coronavirus shot.

All virus-related curbs had been abolished from marriage ceremonies, social gatherings, businesses, indoor dining and sports activities in cities with a 60 per cent vaccination rate. All public transport would be allowed to function with an occupancy level of 100 per cent in these cities.