Half of Islamabad's eligible population fully vaccinated: Umar

The federal minister urges other cities to accelerate the vaccination drive

ISLAMABAD:

National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) Chief Asad Umar announced on Sunday that Islamabad had become the first city in the country to inoculate half of its eligible population against coronavirus.

Taking to his Twitter handle, the federal minister said that at least 50 per cent of those aged 15 years and above have been vaccinated in the federal capital.

“71% of Islamabad eligible population has received at least 1 dose,” he added. Umar urged other cities to follow suit and accelerate the administration of the second jab against Covid-19 to their population.

Umar’s tweet comes two days after the NCOC extended the coronavirus-induced restrictions in 24 districts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad Capital Territory for another week in the wake of the soaring cases of the disease.

The forum, which serves as the nerve centre of the government’s unified strategy to contain the spread of the virus, had imposed some additional restrictions in 24 districts from September 4-11, closing schools and indoor gatherings and restricting public transport.

In the past 24 hours, Islamabad reported 270 new cases of coronavirus and one death.

As per the NCOC’s data, the country’s Covid-19 positivity rate now stood at 5.45%, keeping the positivity rate below 6% for the second consecutive day. The rate signals a significant improvement which the experts chalk up to the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) and restrictions imposed in 24 districts most affected by the virus.

The number of active cases also dropped from 91,717 to 91,015, according to the National Health Services (NHS) ministry. Around 3,797 people recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours taking the overall number of recovered cases to 1,086,785. The data also shows a drop in the number of daily deaths.

Meanwhile, the latest statistics show that 3,153 more coronavirus cases were reported across the country during the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally of confirmed cases to 1,204,520.
On Saturday, the government decided to further lower the age of those eligible to get a vaccine to 15 years.

The NCOC said that people between the ages of 15 and 18 are now eligible for the vaccine.
Children between the ages of 15 and 18 will be vaccinated for free with the Pfizer vaccine which will be available at all central vaccination centres.

A registration certificate will be required for children up to the age of 18 to be vaccinated, the NCOC said, adding that mobile vaccination teams will visit schools and colleges.