'Govt making concerted efforts to increase vaccine supply, expand vaccination capacity'

NCOC chief says 53% of total Covid deaths in Pakistan occurred in citizens aged above 60

ISLAMABAD:

National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar said on Tuesday that the government was making "concerted efforts" to increase the supply of vaccines as well as expand the country's vaccination capacity.

He added that the government was opening vaccinations based on age in descending order "due to finite availability of vaccines globally, as well as vaccination capacity in the country".

 

Reason why we are opening vaccination based on age in descending order is due to finite availability of vaccines globally, as well as vaccination capacity in the country. Both supply of vaccines and vaccination capacity are continuously increasing with concerted efforts.

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) May 11, 2021

 

Furthermore, the NCOC chief explained the government's rationale behind carrying out vaccinations in phases. Umar stated that only 7% of Pakistan's population was above the age of 60 whereas 53% of all Covid-19 deaths had been in this age bracket.

 

Only 7% of Pakistan population is above the age of 60 and 53% of all covid deaths have been in this age bracket. Conversely 77% of Pakistan population is below the age of 40 and only 9% of total covid deaths in Pakistan have been in this age bracket

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) May 11, 2021

 

"Conversely 77% of Pakistan population is below the age of 40 and only 9% of total covid deaths in Pakistan have been in this age bracket," he added.

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The NCOC chief said that the, "Mortality percentage which has been less than 1% for people under 40, rises to 1.8% for 41-50, 3.8% for 51-60, 7.2% for 61-70, 11.1% for 71-80 and over 15% for those above 80."  

Therefore, the federal minister maintained that it was important to inoculate the vulnerable segment of the population first.

 

Therefore it is vital that vaccination is concentrated on the most vulnerable segments of population. The risk of mortality due to covid rises sharply with age. In Pakistan the case fatality rate based on cumulative data this strong linkage in our country also

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) May 11, 2021

 

"The risk of mortality due to covid rises sharply with age. In Pakistan the case fatality rate based on cumulative data this strong linkage in our country also."

On May 5, Umar had informed that the total number of single-day Covid-19 vaccinations had exceeded 200,000.

In a tweet, the federal minister further stated that the total number of people to have registered for the vaccine had also crossed five million.