Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday said 33 per cent of its most vulnerable population — 50-year-old and above — were vaccinated, according to Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiative Asad Umar who is also Chairman of the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC).
Umar shared the news in a tweet saying four weeks ago 21 per cent Pakistanis aged 50 and above had received one dose of the vaccine.
Now the number is 33 per cent as this is the age group most vulnerable to COVID-19. The minister urged Pakistanis to encourage those in this age group to get vaccinated.
Daily death toll surges
Pakistan’s daily death toll climbed to an all-time high - 95 - since the beginning of June when the fourth wave of COVID-19 was reported in the country.
According to the NCOC, 4,720 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the last 24 hours.
The NCOC data further reveals that against 57,233 tests conducted to ascertain COVID-19 cases in the country 79,783 active cases were recorded in the country on Saturday that shows 8.24 per cent positivity rate.
Vaccination opens for 16-18-year-old students going abroad
Pakistan has expanded COVID-19 vaccination for students (aged 16-18 years) who have to travel abroad for studies.
The National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) gave a green signal to the students between 16 and 18 years of age saying they were eligible to get a jab if they had to go overseas for education to universities requiring mandatory vaccination.
“They will be administered Moderna vaccine subject to producing their valid visa and university documents upon arrival for vaccination,” said the NCOC official twitter handle.
Children under 18 will have to follow the same process of registering via an SMS on the government helpline 1166, and wait for information about a health center.
Islamabad COVID-19 cases jump from 30 to 524 in two months
The number of COVID-19 cases in Islamabad continues to grow every day and the city reported 520 new cases of COVID-19, the highest number of single-day cases. The number is steadily going up — 441 on Wednesday, 452 on Thursday and 524 on Friday.
After 4,342 tests conducted in Islamabad in the last 24 hours, 524 people were found infected with the virus showing 12.07 per cent positivity rate, according to District health Officer of (DHO) of Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Islamabad Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat termed the coronavirus situation in Islamabad quite serious quoting the last two months’ figures. They were 30-100 during June-July and 100-500 in July-August, said the DC in his post.
“From one month we went from 30 cases per day to 100 cases per day. In the next month we have gone from 100 per day to more than 500 per day,” said the Deputy Commissioner in his tweet adding the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration had started massive campaigns.
Yesterday, shops were sealed and warnings were issued, today, we will arrest people, warned the DC.
