By PTI
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has administered a record 2.24 million vaccines in a single day, a hopeful milestone for the country where the Omicron variant has fuelled the fifth wave of the pandemic, the Minister for Planning and Development said on Friday.
Omicron, the most transmissible variant of COVID-19, was first reported in Pakistan in December last year.
Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar, who is also the head of the National Command and Operation Centre, the country’s COVID-19 task force, took to Twitter on Friday to praise the health authorities for achieving this vaccination milestone.
“Another record set with 2.24 million vaccinations in a day. Last 4 days in a row we have vaccinated more than 2 million each day.
Every 3 out of 4 Pakistanis eligible for vaccination have received at least 1 dose. 58% are fully vaccinated. Well done, Pakistan,” he tweeted.
Despite the praise, Umar has urged the citizens to remain vigilant and continue adhering to all the protocols such as wearing masks and ensuring social distancing norms.
The Ministry of National Health Services has reported that 194.4 million vaccines were administered, with about 90 million being fully vaccinated.
Pakistan has reported 3,498 new infections in the last 24 hours, down from 3,914 a day earlier.
The country also witnessed 39 deaths related to the virus, taking the death toll to 29,687.
The national positivity rate also fell to 6 per cent from 7.1 per cent reported on Thursday.
As of Friday, as many as 1,365,518 patients have recovered from the virus, according to data released by the Ministry of Health Services.
Prominent public health expert Prof Dr Javed Akram, who is also a member of the Scientific Task Force on COVID-19, reckoned that apart from the massive vaccination drive, a combination of other factors such as short-term immunity and implementation of curbs like the ban on indoor weddings and parties were responsible for the drop in cases.
“Whenever a large number of populations is exposed to a pandemic, human bodies/people start developing short-term antibodies, which is also called sub-clinical disease or asymptomatic disease.
It means that people might be getting infected but with fewer or no symptoms.
It is also called Exposure Induced Immunity and because of its disease or cases suddenly drop in society,” he was quoted as saying in the Dawn newspaper.
