A special Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane carrying the first batch of coronavirus vaccine landed in Islamabad Sunday night.
Earlier in the evening, National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar had said that loading of the vaccine containers into the plane was underway. The state-run news agency reported that the NCOC informed in a brief statement that as per the National Vaccine Strategy on arrival of vaccine a comprehensive vaccine administration strategy across the country would come into force along with administrative measures.
As per details from NCOC, all necessary measures have been put in place for vaccine storage in Islamabad and the move of vaccines to various federating units, particularly to Sindh and Balochistan, through the air. A vaccine nerve centre has been established at the NCOC with provincial- and district-level vaccine administration. The coronavirus monitoring centre discussed in detail about the government’s vaccine administration strategy across Pakistan, administrative measures, and particularly the movement of the initial tranche of the vaccine. Earlier this month, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) gave the authorisation for both – the Chinese-manufactured Sinopharm, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. A day earlier, Asad Umar broke the good news that COVAX has indicated a supply of up to 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for Pakistan in the first half of 2021. “Good news on COVID vaccine front. Received a letter from COVAX of [an] indicative supply of up to 17 million doses of AstraZeneca in 1st half 2021,” he wrote on Twitter. According to the planning minister, six million of the total 17 million doses will be received by March with delivery starting in February. He did not specify any dates. “We signed with COVAX nearly eight months back to ensure availability,” he added.
Meanwhile, the highest death-toll recorded over the last 24-hour period due to the COVID-19 pandemic was recorded in Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the NCOC said.
The country’s nerve centre for COVID-19 response added that the total number of cases in the country stands at 33,182, with at least 1,599 cases recorded over the last 24 hours. As many as 34 more fatalities were also recorded, taking the country’s death toll to 11,657.
According to the NCOC, about 42,455 tests were conducted across the country on January 30, of which 1,599 came out positive, taking the country’s tally for cases so far reported to 544,813.
Out of the total number of deaths, 3,992 deaths have occurred in Sindh, 4,736 in Punjab, 1,897 in KP, 475 in Islamabad, 195 in Balochistan, 260 in AJK and 102 in G-B. The NCOC stated that of the 34 fatalities reported on January 30, six were reported in Sindh, 20 in Punjab, seven in KP and one in AJK. According to NCOC, the total number of recovered patients recorded in the country stands at 499,974.
Pakistan has so far conducted about 7,932,196 COVID-19 tests. There are about 631 hospitals with COVID-19 facilities and around 2,591 patients admitted across the country.
Also, senior leader of Insaf Lawyers Wing Shahid Naseem Gondal died of novel coronavirus on Saturday.
He contracted the virus a month ago and was under treatment at a hospital in Rawalpindi, where he died on Saturday due to complications caused by COVID-19. Gondal was a famous lawyer and chief law officer of the Capital Development Authority, Islamabad.
Also, PPP candidate contesting by-elections on PS-43 Sanghar-III, Jam Shabir Ali Khan, tested positive for coronavirus. Shabir Ali Khan underwent coronavirus diagnosis at the Jamshoro Laboratory, which was positive. He has quarantined himself at his house after testing positive.
