ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday made it mandatory for people to get fully vaccinated before travelling by air, starting September 10.
The NCOC issued the fresh directives in order to ramp up vaccinations across the country amid a fourth Covid-19 wave.
It has also been decided, the NCOC said, to reduce the gap between two doses of vaccines from 42 to 28 days. “The decision was taken in consultation with health experts,” according to the NCOC.
In July, the NCOC had declared Covid-19 vaccination certificates mandatory for domestic air travel from August 1 but to expedite vaccinations the government has now restricted air travel to only fully vaccinated individuals.
After September 10, a partial vaccination certificate will not be permissible.
Prior to this, the NCOC had also barred unvaccinated people from travelling by train from October 1. During a meeting held on Monday last under the chairmanship of the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, the forum expressed satisfaction over the vaccination process across the country. However, it still urged citizens to get their second jabs on time.
Meanwhile, over 4,800 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours in the country. This was revealed by the NCOC on Wednesday. Meanwhile, another 81 people lost their lives to the virus.
As many as 4,856 people tested positive for the virus after 64,690 Covid-19 tests were taken, as per the NCOC’s data. This brings the positivity rate to 7.50 percent. The total number of active cases in the country rose to 84,177 on August 11.
A total of 972,098 people have so far recovered from the virus while the total number of deaths, with the fresh count of 81 fatalities, have risen to 24,085. Pakistan’s total confirmed case count now stands at 1,080,360.
A day earlier, the coronavirus death toll crossed the 24,000 mark in Pakistan after the country reported 86 deaths. Overall, coronavirus cases across Pakistan haven’t declined or risen significantly, however, Sindh lifted its lockdown Monday. Revised Covid-19 restrictions, which will last till August 31, have been announced by the Sindh government.
