National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) head Asad Umar on Tuesday said that more than 100 million people have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine during the government's ongoing vaccination campaign.
The forum, which serves as the nerve centre of the country’s unified efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, last week had instructed the provinces to expedite the vaccination drive. It ordered the provinces to achieve the set vaccination target "at the earliest" amid fears of a new wave of the coronavirus triggered by the Omicron variant.
In a tweet, the NCOC head urged the people to maintain the momentum, while emphasising that the work was not completed yet.
The NCOC on January 5 had said that Karachi and Lahore account for around 60 per cent of the Omicron cases, stressing the need for vaccination and adherence to SOPs.
"It is more important for the people of these two cities -- Karachi and Lahore -- to reach the nearest vaccination centre and get themselves vaccinated," NCOC head Asad Umar had said in the press conference in Islamabad. He was accompanied by SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.
According to the NCOC’s statistics, 33 per cent of the total population and 49 per cent of the eligible population stand vaccinated against the contagion.
Moreover, around 1,467 cases were reported during the last 24 hours, as per the daily statistics of the NCOC.
On January 7, at least 26 nurses in the nursing hostel of the Mayo Hospital, Lahore tested positive for the coronavirus. According to the hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Iftikhar, the infected nurses have been quarantined in the hostel and all the hospital staff has been instructed to follow the standard operating procedures to stem Covid spread.
Despite such a "milestone", people are wary of the prevailing Covid situation in the country.
One user, whose profile reads that she's living in Pakistan since 2007, said that vaccination alone was not enough and called for SOPs implementation.
Another user highlighted the "rush" in universities.
One user praised the government efforts.