Second batch of AstraZeneca vaccine arrives in Islamabad

Pakistan on Saturday received another batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the global COVAX initiative.

The second batch of more than 1.2 million jabs reached Islamabad today, according to the spokesperson of the health ministry Sajid Shah.

Pakistan has so far received three different vaccines under the initiative and this is the fourth batch to arrive in the country.

Earlier, the country received two shipments under COVAX, totalling 26,740,00 vaccines. These comprised 1,060,00 doses of Pfizer and 25,000,00 jabs of the Moderna vaccine.

Read Clear signs of fourth Covid wave starting in Pakistan, says Umar

On Friday, while addressing a news conference, Chairman of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) Asad Umar expressed satisfaction over the rising trend of vaccination in the country.

He said that for the last four days, the number of people receiving jabs remained over 500,000.

Umar added that the government had sufficient stock of vaccines so more people should get vaccinated.

Sharing data on the vaccination process in Pakistan, the minister pointed out that from February 3, 2021, when the vaccination started, till July 1, some 17.7 million received the vaccine shots out of which 6.2 million people had received both jabs.

During the period, he said, 490,000 Covid-19 cases were reported, which accounted for 0.3% of the whole adult population. Among them, 9,917 or 0.08% cases were those who had received the first dose, whereas 5,500 or 0.04% of people were those who had received both doses.

“This means every one out of 333 Pakistani citizens was infected, but if we take the data of the people who got the first dose, the ratio goes down to one in 1,250 people, while it further goes down to one in 2,500 among those who were completely vaccinated,” Umar added.