ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday was apprised that the provinces have almost completed the training of the health staff regarding Covid-19 vaccination to ensure the swift inoculation of the vaccine.
The training had been given to the staff of teaching hospitals, tehsils and district headquarters hospitals.
The NCOC meeting, chaired by National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan, discussed the updates from the provinces on positivity ratio and critical data, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), the implementation of any alternative measures to treat Covid, preparations for vaccine inoculation and national vaccine strategy.
In their briefing to the NCOC, the provincial chiefs and health secretaries, including those from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), stated that all necessary measures were being taken prior to the availability of the coronavirus vaccine.
The forum also discussed in details the complete procedure of vaccination, the time of expected availability, the distribution process and most demanding areas where it may be used at the earliest.
The forum stressed the need for purchasing a high-quality vaccine to ensure the successful treatment of patients.
The chief secretaries also informed the forum about the steps being taken to ensure the implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and NPIs.
They also presented an update on the positivity ratio in their respective provinces as well as highlighting those cities with higher positive cases.
The participants of the meeting were told that a large number of fines had been imposed and restaurants, shops and business centres had also been sealed for not complying with the SOPs.
Moreover, all foreign travellers, especially those from the United Kingdom and South Africa, were being tested at the airports. Those tested positive for the coronavirus were being quarantined.
The government would keep the record of vaccinated persons and even those who travelled from abroad would have to provide a legal document confirming that they had been vaccinated.
The forum also reviewed the overall situation of coronavirus in the county.
“Global policy measures along the lines I have outlined are urgently needed to save lives, revive economies and build back better,” he said.
Meanwhile, the country Pakistan recorded 1,629 new cases of the coronavirus in a single day with 23 more fatalities, said the NCOC on Monday.
According to the latest update, 1,629 new cases emerged after 36,607 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country has soared to 534,041 with the addition of the fresh infections while the countrywide death toll jumped to 11,318.
The NCOC said that the positivity ratio of infections was recorded at 4.44 per cent. The total number of recovered patients stands at 488,903.
The positivity ratio of coronavirus dropped to one per cent in Balochistan as only 14 cases were reported during the last 24 hours in the province on Monday. The spokesperson of the Balochistan Health Department said that Covid-19 active cases stood at 273, whereas 34 more patients recovered from the virus.
Meanwhile, a total of 607 fresh cases of the coronavirus surfaced across Punjab during the previous 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 154,017.
According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, seven more people succumbed to the disease during this period, pushing the death toll to 4,568. The number of people recovering from the infection in the province stands at 138,894.
So far, Sindh has reported a total of 241,200 infections, Punjab 154,017, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 65,532, Balochistan 18,750, Islamabad  40,815, AJK 8,825, and GB 4,902.
