Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has stressed the need for purchasing quality vaccines to provide active immunity to the people against the coronavirus disease.
This was directed by the forum in its meeting held on Monday with National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan in the chair. The NCOC was apprised that the provinces have almost completed the training of the staff of teaching hospitals, tehsil and district headquarters hospitals regarding Covid-19 vaccination for swift inoculation of the vaccine.
The meeting discussed updates from the provinces on positivity and critical data, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs or alternate measures to treat Covid other than medical treatment) implementation, preparations for vaccine inoculation and national vaccine strategy.
In their briefing to the NCOC, the provincial chief secretaries and health secretaries including that of GB and AJK informed that all necessary measures were being taken prior to the availability of coronavirus vaccination.
The chief secretaries also informed the forum about the steps being taken to ensure standard operating procedures and NPIs implementation. They also briefed about the positivity ratio in their respective provinces and cities with higher positive cases.
The forum was told that a large number of fines had been imposed while restaurants, shops and business centres had also been closed for not complying with the standard operating procedures.
The forum also reviewed the overall situation of coronavirus in the county. It was informed that all foreign travellers especially from the UK and South Africa are being tested at the airports. Those tested positive for coronavirus, are being quarantined.
The forum also discussed in detail the complete procedure of vaccination, its time of availability, distribution process and most demanding areas where it can be used at the earliest.
It was told that the government would keep the record of vaccinated persons even those who travelled from abroad would have to provide a legal document confirming that they had been vaccinated.Meanwhile, Pakistan recorded 1,629 new cases of the novel coronavirus in a single day with 23 more fatalities, said the NCOC on Monday.
The positivity ratio of novel coronavirus has dropped to one percent in Balochistan as only 14 cases were reported during the last 24 hours in the province on Monday.
