The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Friday announced launching a special nationwide vaccination campaign for the transportation sector.
According to the NCOC, which serves as the nerve centre of the government’s anti-Covid strategy, the vaccine is being administered by all federating units under a joint campaign from December 8 to 18.
Under the campaign, inspections will be conducted at entrances and exits of bus stops, toll plazas and interchanges, and all types of public and private intercity and intra-city transport will be checked.
Additionally, inspection teams will also be deployed on motorways, national highways and inter-provincial boundaries.
The NCOC emphasised that only vaccinated individuals, or those with medical exceptions, will be permitted to travel. Non-vaccinated transport staff and passengers will be inoculated on the spot via mobile vaccination teams.
The centre stated that a total of 3,793 inspections were completed on December 8 alone and 46 vehicles impounded and eight people arrested.
On Thursday, Pakistan detected its first ‘suspected’ case of the Omicron variant in Karachi, according to the provincial health minister.
Pakistan reported nine Covid-related deaths and 313 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Friday.
The country’s nerve centre for Covid response said a total of 42,978 samples were tested, out of which 313 came back positive, showing the positivity rate of 0.72 per cent.
The country’s tally of confirmed infections has now climbed to 1,288,366. The death toll rose to 28,812 after nine more people succumbed to the viral disease.
A total of 758 critical Covid patients are under treatment in various hospitals across the country.
On Friday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) rejected reports that the first case of Omicron, the new variant of coronavirus, has been confirmed in Pakistan.
Responding to media reports of a “suspected case” of Omicron variant reported from Karachi, the NIH said, “the sample is not yet confirmed to be Omicron via whole genome sequencing, which is to be performed after obtaining the sample.”
