Efforts afoot to procure Covid vaccine
A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in a surgery in Wolverhampton, Britain December 14, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) was apprised on Wednesday that the government was in close liaison with leading Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, including those from China, to ensure early availability of the vaccine.
During the daily morning session, the NCOC, which serves as the nerve centre of the government’s unified effort against the Covid-19 pandemic, was informed that the government was regularly reviewing developments, including data from phase-III trials.
Earlier, in an interview with a private TV channel, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had said that the government was in talks with three different companies for the purchase of the vaccine and added it would be available in Pakistan by March.
He maintained that priority of the vaccine would be given to healthcare workers and people above the age of 65. He urged the citizens to adopt standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the spread of the virus, adding that the second wave of the virus was more dangerous than the first one.
Pakistan is in the grip of a second and deadlier wave of coronavirus. On Wednesday, the country once again witnessed more than 2,000 new cases after seeing a decline earlier this week, while 84 patients died of the pandemic in the last 24 hours, the NCOC said in its daily update.
The NCOC reported 2,142 new cases on Wednesday, compared with 1,792 cases on Monday and 1,704 on Tuesday. It added that the national tally of active Covid-19 cases reached 37,905 on Wednesday with 6,267 people recovering from the disease during the last 24 hours.
According to the NCOC, the total number of infections in the country reached 440,787, while 415,352 people had recovered from the disease so far, making it a significant count with over 86% recovery ratio of the patients.
The NCOC said that 84 virus patients, 73 of whom were under treatment in hospitals, including 47 on ventilators, and 11 at their homes or in quarantines, died on Tuesday. During the last 24 hours most of the deaths had occurred in Punjab followed by the Sindh, it added. (WITH INPUT FROM AGENCIES)