Caretaker Health Minister DrNadeem Jan on Friday said that the country had not yet recorded any cases of the new Covid-19 variant, JN.1 Omicron, but emphasised “we are on red alert”.
The statement from the minister comes a day after the federal government decided to procure 500,000 doses of a Covid vaccine, amid a possible resurgence of the new variant of the virus in various countries.
The procurement of Pfizer vaccines from the US was planned on the recommendations of the Eme¬r¬gency Operation Centre’s (EOC) technical advisory group following the emerging threat of the JN.1 variant.
Around 200,000 doses of vaccine will likely reach the country in the coming week, while the remaining will be available in the next phase, according to a Dawn report. The JN.1 variant is also called a sub-variant of the Omicron lineage. It is more transmissible than other circulating variants, and the proportion of cases caused by this particular virus has been rising.
