ISLAMABAD: The head of the National Command and Operating Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar has announced on Monday, that they have elevated the number of coronavirus vaccinations, with vaccinating a total of 525,000 people in a single day. “For the first time we crossed half a million doses of vaccination yesterday. 5 lakh 25 thousand doses were administered yesterday. Highest ever first dose was also achieved yesterday with 3 lakh 90 thousand first doses administered. The pace will increase further inshallah”, Asad Umar tweeted. For the first time we crossed half a million doses of vaccination yesterday. 5 lakh 25 thousand doses were administered yesterday. Highest ever first dose was also achieved yesterday with 3 lakh 90 thousand first doses administered. The pace will increase further inshallah — Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) July 13, 2021 Asad Umar further said that the vaccination pace would be further increased in the future. The vaccination drive in Pakistan officially began in February, in hopes to beat the deadly virus. The minister’s statement comes after a slight drop in COVID-19 cases following a week-long increase in the daily coronavirus case count. The daily case count had been rising since July 7, but there was a slight drop in the number of cases the day before, and the downward trend continued today. In Pakistan, the total number of deaths since the pandemic began have gone up to 22,618, with another 21 people dead due to the virus in the last 24 hours. The NCOC announced on Tuesday that 1,590 new cases had been reported across the country. According to the NCOC’s most recent data, 1,590 people tested positive for coronavirus after 43,790 tests were conducted on July 12. The current positivity rate in Pakistan is 3.63 percent. Pakistan’s positivity rate had also dropped the day before, after having risen for six days in a row since July 6. In Pakistan, there are currently 39,644 active COVID-19 cases.