China to provide Pakistan more doses of COVID-19 vaccine on priority

Islamabad: China will provide Pakistan more doses of COVID-19 vaccine to help the country continue its ongoing vaccination drive.

The step is being taken to help Pakistan administer vaccine shots to its large population and fulfil its COVID-19 needs, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday.

Yi said China would donate more doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan by March 31.

Over 100 countries had approached China to get the vaccine but they would prioritise the fulfilment of Pakistan’s COVID-19 needs, the Chinese FM further said.

Both leaders discussed the pandemic situation as well as bilateral and other matters of mutual interests, Pakistan’s foreign ministry press release said.

Qureshi told Wang Yi that the Pakistan government had formulated a comprehensive strategy to vaccinate its citizens against COVID-19 for which the country would require further doses of the vaccine.

72 deaths, 3,270 new cases

Pakistan on Tuesday reported 72 deaths and 3,270 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

After the latest figures, the total number of the virus has surged to 633,741 and death toll to 13,935.

According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) data, in the last 24 hours, 1,733 people recovered from the coronavirus taking total recoveries to 585,271.

Punjab’s infections cross 200,000

Punjab’s COVID-19 tally has crossed 200,000 as the province reported on Tuesday 1,929 coronavirus cases and 57 deaths during the last 24 hours.

The provincial total has risen to 200,969 and the death toll to 6,039.

Sindh is already ahead of Punjab with 263,464 cases of COVID-19 and 4,479 deaths.