ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the country’s central body responsible for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, has decided to remove COVID-19 restrictions from cities where 60 percent of people have been vaccinated, local media reported on Saturday.
Pakistan started its vaccination campaign in February and has so far fully inoculated 40,016,932 people.
The NCOC in its recent meeting reviewed the progress of the immunization drive, highlighting the fact that some cities had made greater headway than others.
After reviewing the statistics, it maintained that Islamabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Gilgit and Mirpur were among the “best cities” who had achieved 60 percent vaccination rate for their people.
The pandemic body also named other places, including Rawalpindi, Skardu, Peshawar and Jhelum, who had done fairly well and immunized 40 to 60 percent of their residents.
“All virus-related curbs have been abolished from marriage ceremonies, social gatherings, businesses, indoor dining and sports activities in cities with a 60 percent vaccination rate,” Geo News reported. “All public transport will be allowed to function with an occupancy level of 100 percent in these cities.”
The NCOC said the virus restrictions would persist in other places where vaccination rate was still low.
Asad Umar, the country’s planning minister who also heads its central pandemic body, announced in a Twitter post that “the faster vaccinations are carried out in any district, the quicker restrictions can be relaxed.”

Earlier, he highlighted the progress of the official immunization campaign on the social media platform.
“The year end target for 2021 was 7 crore people vaccinated,” he said. “Happy to report that 7 crore people have now recieved atleast 1 dose and 4 crore are fully vaccinated. With 2 months to go, will inshallah meet, and exceed, the target.”