Pakistan among top 30 countries in terms of vaccine doses administered: faisal

SPECIAL Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan on Saturday claimed that Pakistan is among world’s top 30 countries in terms of Covid-19 vaccines administered.

The PM’S aide, in a video statement, said that almost eight million vaccine doses have been administered in Pakistan as of June 4. “We have administered more vaccine doses than 165 countries. We have administered more vaccine doses than countries such as Australia, Switzerland, Portugal and Belgium.”

Almost 2.2 million people have been fully immunised as of June 4 while 3.7 million have received one dose of the vaccine, he said. Talking about restrictions, he said that the Covid-19 restrictions will not be lifted or eased until and unless all citizens are vaccinated against the virus. “We have to get united against the virus,” he said.

He stated that the virus had dealt a severe blow to all health systems globally and the only way out is for countries to work together.

LOW POSITIVITY RATE: Pakistan recorded its lowest coronavirus positivity rate in three months at 3.58 percent on Friday, according the latest statistics provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

The last lowest Covid-19 positivity rate reported by the country was on February 28 at 3.02 per cent. As many as 83 people lost their lives to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to NCOC’S daily coronavirus report.

The report stated that 52,859 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, out of which 1,893 tests came back positive.

According to the official portal, the rate of positive cases of Covid-19 in the country during the last 24 hours was 3.58 percent.

The total number of deaths from Covid19 in the country so far stands at 21,105, while the total number of cases is 928,588. Meanwhile, 856,005 people have recovered from the virus so far.

The country is reporting a decline in coronavirus cases amid the deadly third wave that has wreaked havoc, however Sindh is still reporting a spike in cases.

A day earlier, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said that despite the efforts of the government, people are still hesitant to get themselves vaccinated.

The health minister, addressing a press conference in Karachi, said Sindh would ease restriction once people start getting themselves inoculated.

“The coronavirus positivity ratio in Karachi is still above 11 percent,” Dr Pechuho said, adding that Sindh is yet to see an improvement.