Pakistan reaches 10m Covid-19 vaccination milestone

About 350,000 people getting vaccinated on daily basis, says NCOC chief Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan administered its milestone 10 millionth anti-Covid vaccine on Wednesday at a ceremony held at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

NCOC chief Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry and NCOC Chief Coordinator Lt Gen Hamud Uz Zaman participated in the event.

Addressing a media briefing, Umar said the country had come a long way in its anti-Covid efforts, but there was still a long way to go.

"Our target is to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of this year," he stressed.

The NCOC chief urged people to actively take part in the country's Covid-19 vaccination drive.

"The quicker the people are vaccinated, the quicker the restrictions will ease," he added.

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The minister said that about 300k people were getting registered for Covid-19 vaccination daily, and about 300k to 350k were getting vaccinated against the coronavirus on a daily basis.

"The threat of Covid-19 is still not over," the minister warned. "There are still about 3,000 people in critical care because of Covid-19. We have to be very careful as there are businesses still being affected by it."

The country reported 1,118 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, taking the country's Covid-19 tally to 936,131.

The country's death toll climbed to 21,453 after 77 more people succumbed to the deadly disease.

Meanwhile, 2,244 patients recovered from the infection in a day, taking the total recoveries to 869,691.

According to the NCOC, the total active Covid-19 cases across the country were reported to be 44,987.