Pakistan achieves milestone of vaccinating 10 million citizens, says minister

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

Pakistan has decided to slightly relax restrictions, put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the third wave of the virus, from June 15 onwards.

Federal Minister Asad Umar, who heads the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), told reporters that Pakistan achieved the milestone of administering 10,000,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to people on Wednesday. "We aim to increase this to achieve the target of vaccinating 70 million people by December 2021.”

A woman receives a dose of Sinovcc vaccine at a centre in Karachi. AFP

Umar said the government's decisions to curb the virus were proving "effective" during the third wave of the pandemic. "The more quickly we get ourselves vaccinated, the faster we will be able to rid ourselves of this menace," he said, requesting people to get themselves vaccinated so that businesses could reopen and life could return to its normal state in Pakistan.

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The minister said that while it was an impressive achievement, the government wanted to expedite the vaccination campaign.

The NCOC chief said Pakistan was administering an estimated 300,000 doses on a daily basis against the coronavirus, adding that more than 300,000 people were registering for the vaccine on a daily basis.

Students attend their class at a school in Rawalpindi. AFP

Umar gave the government and the masses a pat on the back for following coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) due to which a visible decline in the number of cases could be seen.

He said the government's efforts against the coronavirus were proving effective during the third wave of the pandemic.  "We have seen that when Pakistanis, as a nation, decide to do something, then they do it," he said.

The NCOC said the coronavirus vaccines will be mandatory for all public and private sector employees, adding that government employees must be fully vaccinated by June 30.