Islamabad: Pakistan has finalised plans for the general rollout of booster COVID-19 vaccinations for people in their 30s and above.
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which oversees the pandemic response in the country, has announced the coronavirus booster rollout in Pakistan to tackle the threat posed by the Omicron variant. Last week, Pakistan confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant days after the country expanded travel restrictions.
Booster shots
“Individuals 30 years and above are eligible to get a booster dose of their own choice from January 1, 2022,” the NCOC said in a statement following the meeting that reviewed province-wise vaccination targets and efforts to achieve the set vaccination targets.
The booster shots may become the new requirement for fully vaccinated citizens to ensure protection against the coronavirus. Minister Asad Umar, who heads the NCOC, has urged Pakistanis to get vaccinated soon, saying “the emergence of new variant makes it even more urgent to vaccinate all eligible citizens.”
Vaccination targets
Pakistan has so far administered 142 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines with nearly 61 million Pakistanis fully vaccinated while 89 million have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Nearly 27 per cent of Pakistan’s 220 million population is now fully vaccinated and 40 per cent is partially vaccinated.
