Vaccination drive boosted by 1m Sputnik doses as deaths near 26,000
PANDEMIC TOLL NEARS 26,000 AFTER 89 FATALITIES REPORTED IN 24 HOURS
Pakistan has received one million doses of Sputnik vaccine, the Russian-made single dose vaccine that is acceptable in Pakistan and most of the South and the South-East Asian nations.
The first consignment of one million doses of Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday, the health ministry said.
Sputnik V is among the seven vaccines approved by the federal government for emergency use. In view of the accelerated vaccination drive, the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) had announced on Wednesday the highest number of vaccine doses given out in one day - 1.59 million.
Recently, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet also approved PKR 50.1 billion (Dh1.103 billion) cover for $300 million (Dh1.212 billion) financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for procurement of Covid-19 vaccine.
Covid-19 toll nears 26,000
After 89 deaths in the last 24 hours, Pakistan’s toll due to Covid-19 is 25,978 and according to the NCOC against 61,651 tests conducted a day earlier (Wednesday), 4,103 people have tested positive.
However, there is a significant increase in daily recoveries from the virus yesterday, according to the NCOC, 4,974 persons recovered from the coronavirus in a period of 24 hours. The NCOC data shows there is a steady decline in active cases—94,573 on Tuesday, 93,901 on Wednesday and 92,941 yesterday. The positivity rate remained 6.65 per cent, it further states.
Caution against Delta
Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiative Asad Umar has cautioned the public against the Delta variant of Covid-19 and urged the people to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). In a tweet, the minister who is also chairman of the NCOC, said: “As seen globally, the impact of the Delta variant in Pakistan also shows it spreads faster and increases chances of patients to need hospitalisation. Right now, both the hospital inflow and critical care patients at higher level since the start of Covid.”
PM’s adviser tests positive
Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce & Investment Abdul Razak Dawood tested positive on Thursday and went into quarantine. In a tweet on Thursday, Adbul Razak Dawood announced he had tested positive and was going into quarantine. He requested the people to pray for him.
Last week, Pakistan averaged about 936,145 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 47 days to administer enough doses for another 10 per cent of the population.