ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has given a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine to more than 87.5 million people, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Saturday, adding almost 60 million people have been fully vaccinated against the pandemic.
“With arrival of omicron variant, the need for vaccination [is] even more urgent,” the minister, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), announced.
With arrival of omicron variant the need for vaccination even more urgent. So far 8 crore 75 lakh Pakistani’s have taken at least one dose and 6 crore people are fully vaccinated.
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) December 18, 2021
The tweet came as the latest variant of the coronavirus gains momentum in Europe and the United States, and has successfully penetrated the nation with at least one confirmed case in Karachi.
Just weeks ago, disease experts were predicting that countries would begin to emerge from the pandemic in 2022 after enduring a series of surges driven by the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants.
But the rapid spread of the highly-mutated Omicron variant, identified in late November, and its apparent ability to reinfect people at a higher rate than its predecessors, is undermining that hope.
The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on Monday confirmed the detection of Pakistan’s first case of the Omicron variant in an unvaccinated person, just days after the government expanded travel restrictions in an attempt to slow its spread.
“The virus also spreads because people are not vaccinated, and this lady, too, was not vaccinated,” said Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechucho.
In November, Umar warned the Omicron variant will “inevitably” find its way to Pakistan, adding the nation had “only a few weeks” to contain the latest threat.
“The emergence of new variant makes it even more urgent to vaccinate all eligible citizens 12 years and older,” he said.
“It is my appeal to people, particularly those who’ve gotten one dose to get the second dose because this is one effective thing we have to protect ourselves from the danger of this variant,” the minister added.
NEW CASES
Pakistan recorded 357 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, the NCOC said in its daily update.
The total number of confirmed cases has risen to 1,290,848, according to the department leading the campaign against the pandemic.
Another seven people lost their lives due to the pandemic over the past 24 hours in the Asian country, taking the overall coronavirus death toll to 28,870, according to the body.
During the period, 239 patients recovered from Covid-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,252,396, said the NCOC.
Sindh is the worst-affected province by the pandemic with 478,942 infections, followed by Punjab with 444,119 cases.
