ISLAMABAD: A vaccination deadline of August 31 has been set by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) for sectors dealing with the public to get their staff vaccinated. Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar, addressing a briefing of the press, said that the government wants to speed up vaccinations so as to reach the one million daily mark and would need the coordination of the public to reach that mark. SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, who was also present during the session, said that critical care cases, which were less than 2,000 in June, have surged past 3,000. The SAPM said that health facilities throughout the country are caving under the pressure which has increased considerably during the last few days as the infection rate is escalating. The minister said students over 18 years of age, teachers, transporters, government employees, hotel and wedding hall staffers and personnel of law enforcement agencies must get themselves vaccinated before the end of the next month. “We have identified that banks, markets, public offices and schools are the sectors dealing with the public and in order to curb the virus spread, vaccination has been made mandatory for those working in these sectors,” the minister said. Umar said that all teachers who do not get themselves vaccinated by August 1 will not be allowed to teach, stating his apprehensions about the worsening situation if safety protocols would not be demonstrated. According to the NCOC data collected for the 26-28 July period, he said, the implementation on SOPs is not as good as it was earlier. “Islamabad has the highest enforcement of health guidelines of around 56.4%. Next is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 46%, Punjab is 38%, while the lowest [enforcement] is in Sindh and Balochistan at 33%,” he said. Umar supported the steps taken by the Sindh government to curb the spread and said the federal government will extend all support to the province as the positivity ratio at 30 pc is worrisome in Karachi. “Sindh is taking proactive measures, which is the right thing to do right now,” he said. On media reports of a possible lockdown in Karachi, he said this is not the solution. “In the past one year, we have learnt that shutting down had not worked and it won’t work now. So the only way forward is to vaccinate and follow SOPs.”