ISLAMABAD: Ahead of possible nationwide Covid restrictions due to the rising numbers of infections, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on health Faisal Sultan held on Sunday a presser to explain statistics and possible restrictions that the country might face.
“We are planning targeted restrictions with coordinated plans so that people are least troubled,” said Asad Umar while noting that Pakistan has fended off Covid carnage better than in the other regional countries, where the disease had wreaked havoc.
He said everyone witnessed the ravaged state of India and Iran and noted that Pakistan has nevertheless been steered off safely in all the preceding waves of the pandemic.
The past few weeks have seen Covid laying destruction in Indonesia and Bangladesh while Afghanistan numbers are not too promising as well, he said as he underscored the threats and dreads of the delta variant.
There have been 2,600 vaccination centres established across Pakistan and 3,000 mobile teams administering the vaccine to people door to door, he said. He shared numbers of Covid vaccinations that how in just the past 16 days the country jabbed 10 million people, which is the same number of vaccines administered in the first 113 days of the vaccination drive.
We jabbed around 934,000 people just yesterday, he added.
Pakistan has given doses of a coronavirus vaccine to more than 30 million people as public health experts call on the government to target future vaccinations in hotspots where the disease is threatening to run out of control.
Official figures from across the country showed that 934,608 people received a jab on Saturday, taking the headline total to 30.59 million, less than six months after the programme began in March.
Giving the breakdown of jabs in a tweet separately, the minister said the first 10 million shots took 113 days, the second 28 days and the third only 16 days.
Pakistan has crossed 3 crore vaccinations. The first crore took 113 days. The second 28 days and the 3rd only 16 days. Pace has rapidly increased. All 6 days this week were a record. 9 lakh 34 thousand vaccinations yesterday . In last 6 days 5 million vaccinations were done.
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 1, 2021
“[The] pace [of vaccination] has rapidly increased. All six days this week were a record. 9 lakh 34 thousand vaccinations yesterday [Saturday]. In [the] last six days, five million vaccinations were done,” he said.
The tweet came as the government portal keeping track of the outbreak in Pakistan registered 5,026 new cases in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day increase in infections since April.
The last time when the number of daily cases crossed 5,000 was on April 29 with 5,113 cases.
Pakistan has seen coronavirus infections soar, dominated by Delta variant, and its fragile health infrastructure is under extreme pressure.
The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation as among the four Covid-19 variants of concern due to evidence that they spread more easily, likely caused the latest outbreak.
The highly contagious mutation is surging through Asia, with record numbers of infections in Australia and South Korea, prompting some countries to tighten curbs and others to hasten vaccination.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre, it tested 56,965 samples on Saturday, receiving back a positivity rate of 8.82 percent.
The latest figures also showed that 62 Covid-19 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the overall number of deaths related to the coronavirus in Pakistan to 23,422.
With infection numbers beginning to rise again, the government has ramped up its vaccination efforts. Health experts say it was too early to see any positive impact from the vaccinations because so many had taken place so recently.
The government has offered a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to 24.08 million people, or 9.1 percent of the total population. Those involved in the programme say refusal rates have been relatively low.
Public health experts said there was now a case that the vaccination should be rolled out faster in hotspot areas after a research released over the weekend suggested it could cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds.
Late on Saturday, the Punjab government announced targetted restrictions in 13 neighbourhoods of Lahore after recording an uptick in the transmission rate.
Umar during the presser also shed light on the curbs that the federal and provincial governments have imposed in different cities of the country to contain the spread of the virus and said that both the Centre and the provinces “are in this situation together.” He, however, highlighted that decisions should be made by a central authority (the federal government), otherwise, it would lead to mismanagement and cause trouble to the masses.
He emphasised that the NCOC has “nothing to do with politics.”
Pertaining to the issue of sanctions, Umar stated that restrictions should be imposed in a targeted manner so that the employment of people is not affected.
The NCOC boss stated that the main spread of coronavirus is because of the Delta variant — which first emerged in India — adding that it spreads faster than the British variant. He added that he would make recommendations to the prime minister regarding the coronavirus situation on Monday, August 2.
Effective today, the government banned staff from entering public offices, schools, restaurants, transport and shopping malls without vaccination certificates.
The certificate will also be required for all air passengers and crew, said Umar, who heads the NCOC, earlier this week.
He said the certificate would be required for air travel and school staff from August 1 and from the end of August for employees of malls, restaurants, public transport and public sector offices.
Students aged above 18 will also be required to be vaccinated.
“If you’re not vaccinated you can’t go to teach at schools and colleges from August 1,” Umar said.
SAPM Dr Sultan said all the Covid related data is compiled with the National Command and Operation Center platform.
The number of people having to receive medical treatment due to Covid infections has risen to 400-500 daily, he lamented, adding that at present there are 2,000 patients are in critical condition currently.
He urged the people to get vaccinated as the rate of occupied beds in the medical facilities across Karachi has already reached 55 per cent.
Dr Sultan stressed that wearing masks, not going to crowded places, and keeping rooms ventilated can help curb the spread of the disease, adding that vaccination reduces the risk of getting sick by ten times.
Separately, it emerged that students under 18 years of age willing to go abroad with a valid study visa are being allowed to get Covid shots.
The students who have yet to reach their sanctioned minimum age limit, 18 years of age, to receive Covid shots will now be jabbed to fulfil their requirements of boarding international flights.
Those who have a valid study visa and are willing to go abroad for their studies may get their vaccination now.
They will be given the shots of the Moderna vaccine whose stock was just recently availed by Pakistan and which was dedicated for only those above 18-year of age who suffered terminal illness.
Starting tomorrow, all the citizens above 18 years of age will be administered the Moderna vaccine as well as those who are willing to study abroad but are still underage for the vaccination age limit.
Moreover, the Civil Aviation Authority and Airports Security Force on Sunday came into action regarding the checking of Covid-19 vaccination certificates of passengers at all airports including Jinnah International Airport, Islamabad.
The Civil Aviation Authority has made Covid-19 vaccination certificates compulsory for all passengers of 18 years of age and above. In its notification, the aviation authority had directed that the passengers will not be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan without proof of Covid-19 vaccination from Aug 1.
However, the people who intend to go abroad are exempted from this condition. The foreigners are also exempted from this prerequisite. The Pakistanis who do possess the vaccination certificates from foreign countries are also exempted.
Reportedly, the inspection teams of the airport manager were checking Covid vaccination certificates of the passengers at the Concourse Hall of the Jinnah International Airport, Islamabad. They were letting them enter the boarding area after checking their certificates.
At Karachi International Airport, eight passengers were offloaded who were not carrying the Covid vaccination certificates. The passenger intended to fly to Islamabad from Karachi.
According to the CAA notification, the PIA and all other airlines are required to check the vaccination certificates of the passengers before their boarding. The passengers are not allowed to travel without a Covid vaccination certificate.
