Daily Times

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry Thursday said the cabinet committee has decided to initially purchase 1.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from the Chinese company Sinoform.

The purchased vaccine doses will be provided free of cost to the frontline workers in the first quarter of 2021, the federal minister said in a tweet. He said that the private sector is allowed to import any internationally approved vaccine on its own. The decision was taken in the second meeting of the Special Cabinet Committee constituted as an oversight body for procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine.

China approved a Covid-19 vaccine developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm on Thursday, its first approved shot for general public use.

Meanwhile, the national tally of total active Covid-19 cases in Pakistan on Thursday reached 34,537 as 2,475 more people tested positive for the deadly virus. Fifty-eight patients, 50 of whom were under treatment in hospitals and eight in their respective homes or quarantines died, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Most of the deaths had occurred in Punjab followed by Sindh as out of total 58 deaths, 31 patients died on ventilators.

No Covid-affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) while 307 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan. The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 38 percent, ICT 41 percent, Peshawar 31 percent and Lahore 34 percent. The oxygen beds are also occupied in four major areas as in ICT 35 percent, Karachi 29 percent, Peshawar 58 percent and Multan 39 percent.

Some 36,695 tests were conducted across the country on Wednesday, including 12,940 in Sindh, 15,043 in Punjab, 5,913 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,433 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 535 in Balochistan, 371 in GB, and 460 in AJK.

Around 435,073 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count.

A total of 479,715 cases detected so far (AJK 8256, Balochistan 18148, GB 4856, ICT 37702, KP 58379, Punjab 137949, Sindh 214425)

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 479,715 cases were detected so far that comprised total affected, deceased and recovered COVID-19 patients, including AJK 8,256, Balochistan 18,148, GB 4,856, ICT 37,702, KP 58,379, Punjab 137,949 and Sindh 214,425.

About 10,105 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion, including 3,533 in Sindh among Eight of them perished in hospital and five out of hospital during the past 24 hours. Some 4,013 in Punjab, while 28 of them deceased in hospital and three out of hospital on Wednesday. 1,638 in KP 11 of them died in hospital on Wednesday, 416 in ICT One of them died in hospital on Wednesday, 183 in Balochistan one of them died in hospital on Wednesday, 101 in GB and 221 in AJK where one of them died in hospital on Wednesday.

A total of 6,696,068 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far, while 626 hospitals are equipped with Covid facilities. Some 2,691 coronavirus patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.