Government to open vaccine registration for all citizens after Eid, claims Asad Umar

The announcement came after more than 100 deaths were reported from coronavirus in the country for the second day in a row on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to more than 15,000.

Earlier this week, the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) decided to vaccinate people over the age of 80 at their homes.

Talking to selected senior journalists in Islamabad, Asad Umar termed the next five to six weeks as crucial for the third wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan.

He said that so far 14,000 people from the private sector have been vaccinated while China is currently the main source of vaccination in Pakistan, whereas CanSino vaccine will also be available in the country after Eid.

"After Eid, we will be able to vaccinate more than 125,000 people every day," Asad Umar told reporters.

He said that the number of critically ill patients in the country at present is more than the first wave which is a matter of concern.

The Federal Minister emphasized that the rate of cases could be reduced through strict implementation of SOPs.

It should be noted that despite several measures, the spread of the third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan does not seem to be slowing down and the number of cases reported in the last 24 hours in the country remained the highest since June 2019.

A further 5,329 people were diagnosed with the virus in Pakistan, while 98 patients died, according to the official website created for the COVID-19 data.

The current positivity rate is 10.7 per cent.

Among the four provinces, Punjab recorded the highest number of daily infections at 2,990, along with 62 deaths. It was followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered 1,018 cases and 23 deaths.