ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said on Wednesday Pakistan had improved the pace of its coronavirus immunization campaign and was now vaccinating over 200,000 people daily, as a new shipment of CanSino vaccine jabs arrived in Islamabad from China.
Pakistan is currently grappling with its third wave of the coronavirus and recorded 4,113 new infections in the last 24 hours, with 119 deaths.
“By the grace of God, the number of vaccinations has exceeded 200,000,” Umar said in a Twitter post. “People are also registering themselves [for inoculation] at a greater pace and more than five million people have registered themselves until now. Those who are 40 years or older should register themselves soon and continue to take all necessary precautions.”
الحمد للہ ایک دن میں ویکسین لگنے کی تعداد کل 2 لاکھ سے تجاوز کر گئی. لوگوں کے ریجسٹر کرنے کے رفتار میں بھی اضافہ ہوا ہے اور اب تک رجسٹر کرنے والوں کی تعداد 50 لاکھ سے تجاوز کر گئی ہے. اگر 40 سال یا اس سے زیادہ عمر ہے تو جلد رجسٹر کریں. اور ساتھ میں حفاظتی اقدامات جاری رکھیں
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) May 5, 2021
Pakistan began its immunization drive after receiving a first batch of the Sinopharm vaccine, donated by China, in February this year. Pakistani health chief Dr. Faisal Sultan said this week the government expected it would have received a total of 19 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by the first half of 2021.
On Wednesday, the government announced it had received a shipment of 120,000 single dose CanSino vaccine jabs purchased from China, adding that the National Institute of Health would release the shots after packaging and labeling them locally.
The country is also expected to receive the first shipment of 1.2 million doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine on Friday under the COVAX global initiative that aims to provide vaccines to developing countries.
COVAX had promised to send 45 million doses to Pakistan earlier this year, but the shipments have been delayed largely due to the coronavirus catastrophe in India, which is the world’s second largest manufacturer of the vaccine.