Pakistan reports vaccination of 67m, nears 70m target
After Karachi and Islamabad, Lahore, too reports first Omicron case
Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday reported that 67.5 million of the eligible people had been completely vaccinated (administered two doses of COVID-19 vaccine) and the country was nearing its target of fully vaccinating 70 million people by the end of the year.
According to Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative Asad Umar, who is also chairman of the coronavirus monitoring body, the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), more than 150 million people have been administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
“Total vaccinations carried out now exceed 15 crores [150 million]. Punjab leads the way in provinces with 68 per cent of eligible population having received at least 1 dose,” said the Minister in a social media post adding KP’s 57 per cent, Sindh’s 51 per cent and Balochistan’s 38 per cent population had received at least one dose of COVID-19.
Balochistan has shown tremendous progress during December by showing a sharp increase in its vaccination graph, the minister further said.
Lahore reports first Omicron case
Lahore becomes the country’s third and Punjab’s first city to report a case of Omicron variant of COVID-19.
According to the Primary & Secondary Health Department of Punjab, a suspect case of Omicron who had a history of travelling to Sindh has been confirmed in Lahore. The virus was detected in the 23-year-old man from Lahore. The patient is a resident of Gulberg area.
The health authorities said the patient came from Sindh but had no history of travelling abroad. The provincial health department has traced more than 10 contacts and sent all their samples to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for further testing and confirmation.
The Omicron case was detected in Lahore three days after Islamabad reported its first case of the variant.
On Saturday, District Health Officer (DHO) of Islamabad confirmed that a man was quarantined after he was confirmed to be an Omicron carrier.
Last week, at least 32 Omicron cases were reported in Balochistan’s Kalat district but they turned out to be false.
The provincial industry department has meanwhile warned owners of factories, shopping malls and other business houses to get their staff vaccinated by January 5, 2022. If they don’t do so, their premises will be sealed.
Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Mian Aslam told a meeting that his ministry had decided to go all out against industrial units and factories whose staff had not yet been vaccinated.
We have directed them to ensure vaccination of all their workers and other staff by January 5.
After the deadline, the department, with the help of respective district enforcement teams, will start sealing all business premises found having staff sans vaccination, said Mian Aslam.