ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's planning minister Asad Umar said on Wednesday the country had reached an "important milestone" by administering at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine to half of its eligible population.
Pakistan began its vaccination campaign in February and decided last month to remove COVID-19 restrictions from cities where 60 percent of the population had been vaccinated.
The country's top pandemic body, the National Command and Operation Center, announced on Tuesday the coronavirus positivity rate had dropped to less than one percent, the lowest since the pandemic began in February 2020.
"Reached important milestone of 50% of country's eligible population receiving at least 1 dose," the planning minister said in a Twitter post.
He informed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had become the second province to partially vaccinate half of its eligible population.
"Yesterday was highest vaccination day in Pakistan with 1.7 million doses," he added.
According to the official statistics, Pakistan recorded 554 cases of new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours and had a positivity rate of 1.20 percent.
Eight people died of COVID-19 during the same period, and 1,167 patients suffering from the disease were said to be in a critical condition.
