Pakistan vaccinates more than 1m people in new daily record, says Umar
Says Islamabad first city with population of over 1m to get 50% eligible population vaccinated with at least one dose
ISLAMABAD:
National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar said on Tuesday that the target set for vaccination of one million people in a single day was achieved yesterday (Monday), as 1.07m citizens received Covid jabs.
In a tweet, the federal minister lauded the performance of federal and provincial governments for inoculating people in “record numbers” amid a surge in infections.
Umar also shared that 50 per cent population of Islamabad has been vaccinated with at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
“Islamabad has become the first city in Pakistan with a population of 1 million or more to get 50% of its eligible population vaccinated with at least one dose,” he wrote on his Twitter handle.
According to the minister, Peshawar and Rawalpindi have 35 per cent of their population inoculated, while Faisalabad authorities have vaccinated 28pc of the total population. In Lahore, Gujranwala and Sargodha, 27pc of the eligible population has been vaccinated.
In Karachi, 26pc people are vaccinated while in Hyderabad, the vaccines have been administered to 25pc of the eligible population.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Dr Faisal also appreciated the vaccination drive across the country. In a tweet, he said “at least 30 million (cumulative) doses” have been administered so far.
“Last 10 million doses took 16 days - 8x faster than what it took to administer first 10 million [doses],” he wrote.
On August 1, Umar had said that all the past six days of the week (July 26-Aug 1) had a new “record” number of vaccinations. “A total of five million jabs were administered throughout the week,” the minister had said.
The boost in vaccination comes amid a spike in coronavirus cases across Pakistan due to the Delta variant, particularly Sindh. Due to the rise in infections, the Sindh government imposed a week-long lockdown in the province till August 8.