ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday opened its coronavirus vaccination campaign for 17 year olds as the head of the national pandemic response body said at least 35 percent of the eligible population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Pakistan’s health chief Dr. Faisal Sultan last week said teenagers over 17 years of age would have to get their first dose by September 15 and be fully vaccinated by October 15 to be allowed into educational institutions.
Pakistan launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign in February 2021, nearly one year after the first case of the coronavirus was reported. It has so far administered over 56 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Asad Umar, planning minister and head of the NCOC, the pandemic response body, said at least 35 percent of the eligible population in Pakistan had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
In a separate tweet, Umar said the government had set the target to vaccinate 40 percent of the adult population in major cities of Pakistan by the end of August and only a few cities had missed the target.
Pakistan reported 3,559 new coronavirus cases and 101 deaths in the last 24 hours, a government portal showed on Wednesday.
“Highest single day vaccine administration carried out on 31 August,” the NCOC said in a tweet on Wednesday.
