Coronavirus kills 161
Islamabad
Pakistan’s daily vaccinations crossed the 150,000 mark for the first time the previous day, Asad Umar, the head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said on Tuesday.
The Planning and Development Minister tweeted that as many as 164,000 people were administered Covid-19 vaccine.
Yesterday was the first day when people aged 40 years and above started getting jabs, he added.
Addressing a press conference earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said the government has signed deals for procurement of 30 million Covid vaccine doses.
He said 19 million doses will be received by June this year, clarifying that the government is not relying on donations but 90 per cent of the doses are being purchased.
The SAPM said that local packaging of single dose CanSino vaccine is about to begin in the country.
Three million doses of this vaccine will be prepared at the National Institute of Health per month, he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 161 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 837,523. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 18,310 on Tuesday.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 3,377 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths and cases followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.—INP