ISLAMABAD: Only 180,000, or 2.25 percent, of around eight million senior citizens in Pakistan had registered to get vaccinated against the coronavirus two weeks after the government launched a registration drive, Pakistani media reported on Friday.
Pakistan launched its COVID-19 vaccine drive earlier this month, saying it would inoculate health care workers in the first phase, followed by the elderly in March.
The government started registering senior citizens for the vaccination program on Feb 15.
“The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has described it as a slow response, considering that there are around eight million people above 65 years of age in Pakistan,” Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported, saying only 180,000 people above the age of 60 had registered.
“We urge people that they should register themselves so that they would be inoculated as soon as vaccine would reach at the Adult Vaccination Centers in Pakistan,” Dawn wrote, quoting a health ministry official.
Around 500,000 doses of vaccine produced by Sinopharm and donated by China had arrived in Pakistan on a military flight on February 1, allowing authorities to kickstart a nationwide inoculation campaign starting with health workers.
Pakistan has also been pledged 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine under a global scheme to deliver coronavirus treatments to developing nations.
About 6 million doses will arrive by the end of March under the COVAX scheme, with the remainder due by mid-year, the health chief has said.
Only 2.25% of Pakistani senior citizens register for COVID-19 vaccine — report
https://arab.news/z33sj
Only 2.25% of Pakistani senior citizens register for COVID-19 vaccine — report
- 180,000 of around eight million senior citizens have responded to government calls to register for vaccination program
- Government started registering senior citizens on Feb 15, “not a very positive response,” health ministry says
Pakistan highlights economic reforms at Davos, eyes cooperation in AI, IT and minerals
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks at breakfast event in Davos at sidelines of World Economic Forum summit
- Pakistan, rich in gold, copper reserves, has sought cooperation with China, US, Gulf countries in its mineral sector
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s recent economic reforms during the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos on Wednesday, saying that his country was eyeing greater cooperation in mines and minerals, information technology, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence with other states.
The Pakistani prime minister was speaking at the Pakistan Pavilion in Davos on the sidelines of the WEF summit at a breakfast event. Sharif arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday to attend the 56th annual meeting of the WEF, which brings together global business leaders, policymakers and politicians to speak on social, economic and political challenges.
Pakistan has recently undertaken several economic reforms, which include removing subsidies on energy and food, privatization of loss-making state-owned enterprises and expanding its tax base. Islamabad took the measures as part of reforms it agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a financial bailout package.
“We are now into mines and minerals business in a big way,” Sharif said at the event. “We have signed agreements with American companies and Chinese companies.”
Islamabad has sought to attract foreign investment in its critical minerals sector in recent months. In April 2025, Pakistan hosted an international minerals summit where top companies and government officials from the US, Saudi Arabia, China, Türkiye, the UK, Azerbaijan, and other nations attended.
Pakistan is rich in gold, copper and lithium reserves as well as other minerals, yet its mineral sector contributes only 3.2 percent to the countrys GDP and 0.1 percent to global exports, according to official figures.
Sharif said Pakistan has been blessed with infinite natural resources which are buried in its mountains in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and southwestern Balochistan regions.
“But we have now decided to go forward at lightning speed,” he said. “And we are also moving speedily in the field of crypto, AI, IT.”
He said the government’s fiscal and economic measures have reduced inflation from nearly 30 percent a few years ago to single-digit figures, adding that its tax-to-GDP ratio had also increased from 9 to 10.5 percent.
The prime minister admitted Pakistan’s exports face different kinds of challenges collectively, saying the country’s social indicators needed to improve.
“But the way forward is very clear: that Pakistan has to have an export-led growth,” he said.
SHARIF MEETS IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR
Separately, Sharif met IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on improvements in Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators, efforts toward stability and progress on institutional reforms, a statement from Sharif’s office said.
He emphasized Pakistan’s commitment to fiscal discipline, revenue mobilization and sustainable development, it added.
The IMF managing director acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan’s reform efforts, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“Both sides exchanged views on the global economic outlook, challenges facing emerging economies, and the importance of multilateral cooperation in safeguarding economic stability,” the PMO said.
