ISLAMABAD: A special plane of Pakistan Air Force (FIA) carrying first tranche of COVID-19 vaccine in Islamabad from Beijing.
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that measures for the vaccine storage in the capital city and its onward transportation to other cities have been finalized.
A vaccine nerve center has also been set up at NCOC along with vaccine administration and coordination centres at provincial and district level.
The PAF plane has brought 500,000 vaccine doses that China had promised to provide to Pakistan earlier this month.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination Dr. Faisal Sultan said that the government is grateful to China for sending the COVID-19 jabs.
الحمد اللہ ہمیں سینوفرم ویکسین کا پہلا بیچ ملا ہے! اس کے لئے انتھک محنت کرنے والے ہر شخص کا شکر گزار ہوں۔ COVID کا مقابلہ کرنے میں NCOC اور صوبوں نے اہم کردار ادا کیا۔ میں اپنے فرنٹ لائن ہیلتھ کیئر ورکرز کو ان کی کاوشوں کے لئے سلام پیش کرتا ہوں۔ویکسین سب سے پہلے انہیں لگے گی۔ pic.twitter.com/zfIdwF1GqN
— Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) February 1, 2021
Appreciating the role of frontline healthcare workers for their role in the pandemic, he said that they will be first to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus claimed 34 more lives as another 1,599 people tested positive for the deadly disease during the past 24 hours across Pakistan.
According to the latest update released by the National Command and Operation Centre, 1,599 new infections surfaced after 42,455 samples were tested during this period. The positivity ratio of Covid-19 cases was recorded at 3.76 per cent.
In Rawalpindi, a PTI activist and chairman of the Insaf Lawyers Wing Advocate Shahid Naseem Gondal passed away at the Military Hospital on Saturday night due to complications arising from the novel coronavirus, party leaders and his family confirmed.
Gondal was also serving as the Chief Legal Adviser of the Capital Development Authority.
According to his nephew, Ihteshamul Haq Matoo, the PTI leader had been undergoing treatment for complications arising from Covid-19, including a lung infection, since the last few days. He had confirmed he tested positive for Covid-19 last month in a statement on Facebook.
The prime minister, in his condolence message said, he was “saddened” about learning of Gondal’s death and remembered him for being “one of our most loyal workers who stood with us during our struggle against the political mafias.”
Dr Mujahid, an orthopaedic surgeon, who was under treatment at a hospital after he was tested positive for the disease, died of coronavirus in Karachi on Sunday.
