Vaccine milestone

March 6 marked Pakistan crossing the major milestone of fully vaccinating 100 million people against the coronavirus pandemic. The national vaccination drive has been running in full swing across the country and there are all indications that Pakistan will be able to cover all eligible citizens fairly soon. Meanwhile, news regarding patients is also encouraging: on March 8, Pakistan reported six Covid-related fatalities in the country, down from nine a day earlier. If deaths remain in single digits in the coming weeks that will be sure evidence that the vaccination drive has produced tangible results. While initially there was skepticism about the government managing the vaccination drive, the NCOC has managed it rather commendably, supported by provincial health authorities. The official global death toll from Covid-19 has crossed the six-million mark and the number of infected people has crossed 450 million. By all counts, these are staggering numbers but the number of daily new cases has recently been declining – providing further evidence of vaccine efficacy.

The pandemic is already in its third year, and we must not forget that this was a great tragedy of astronomical proportions. Timely advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the development of SOPs has helped greatly, though many people remained reluctant to follow them. Now with a gradual resumption of travel and a visible recovery in the world economy, Pakistan is also likely to get some benefit.

All this should not put us in a complacent mode, though, as there have been many variants and there is a possibility of newer variants emerging. Another outbreak of a variant or a new virus is not out of the question and this is an eventuality all countries including Pakistan must remain prepared for. Any new virus may put the clock back once again. There should be a zero-Covid strategy in place on the pattern of China and Hong Kong which are not taking it lightly even when the disease has receded. It has been proved now that this is essentially a disease of the unvaccinated and any health system which fails to remain prepared with booster doses can be overwhelmed again. We must also not forget our frontline health workers and vaccinators who kept working in dangerous conditions, at times reportedly with delayed salaries. They are the real heroes of Pakistan and the nation owes them for their contribution.