The first shipment of the British coronavirus AstraZeneca has arrived in Pakistan.
The first consignment of the AstraZeneca vaccine has landed at Islamabad International Airport, according to a Ministry of Health spokesperson.
There are 1,248,400 doses of the vaccine in the first consignment.
The first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine has been carried under the COVAX factory, according to the spokesperson.
According to officials, Pakistan was scheduled to receive the first batch of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine via COVAX in March, but delivery was postponed after the Serum Institute of India (SII) redirected supplies to fulfill domestic needs.
“Pakistan has now managed to get the coronavirus vaccine from South Korea using influence with partner organizations,” according to a The News report.
Vaccinations against the coronavirus are being carried out in Pakistan, with citizens receiving the Chinese Sinopharm, CanSino Bio vaccine.
Pakistan confirmed 120 more covid-19 deaths on Saturday, bringing the national death toll to 18,797 according to the National Command and Operation Centre.
An additional 4,109 individuals were infected, bringing the total number of cases to 854,240 throughout the country.
According to NCOC’s data, Pakistan conducted 48,103 COVID-19 tests, with over 4,000 of them returning positive.
Punjab has the most cases, with 316,334, Sindh is second with 290,756 cases, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 123,150 cases, Islamabad has 77,684 cases, Balochistan has 23,186 cases, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has 17,763 cases, and Gilgit Baltistan has 5367 cases.
There are currently 82,731 active cases in the country, with 752,712 recoveries registered throughout the country.
The All Pakistan Traders Association had declared a day earlier that all commercial operations will continue to operate from tomorrow until Chand Raat, the day before Eid-ul-Fitr.
According to Ajmal Baloch, President of the All Pakistan Traders Association, despite government orders, all markets and businesses can function throughout the country, including in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
“We should be allowed to operate businesses 24 hours as the Saudi government did,” said Baloch, adding if the government does not have the means to provide relief to the business community, then it should not tell trades to shut down their businesses.
As Ramadan draws closer and the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays arrive, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan cautioned Pakistanis of a “very risky period ahead.”
Microbiologists and scientists, he said, should continue to educate people about the risks of the coronavirus and urge them to adopt normal operating methods to prevent transmission.
“Covid-19 cases may rise again if precautions are not taken during this critical period when we are seeing the last days of the holy month of Ramazan and Eid is a festive season,” he said.
