Islamabad (Web Desk): The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to increase stringent measures to ensure mandatory vaccination due to increasing number of Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The NCOC meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, who also heads the forum, and co-chaired by National Coordinator Major General Muhammad Zafar Iqbal took stock of evolving pandemic situation, the national vaccination campaign and the spread of the disease.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan also participated in the session.
The forum said the fifth wave of COVID-19 which is driven by the Omicron variant, is spreading rapidly in the country.
The NCOC said that Karachi’s positive rate has jumped from2% to 6% in the last three days.
The NCOC urged the masses to use face masks to avoid contracting the new variant and ensure social distancing at the outdoors to minimize disease spread.
It also reviewed the progress of district-wise vaccination campaign being run across the country.
The forum reviewed district-wise vaccination targets and directed the province to achieve their set vaccination targets at the earliest to curtail spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Monday (today) started COVID-19 booster shots for all people who are over 30 years old who have been fully vaccinated at least six months ago.
As per the reports, booster jabs including Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Pfizer will be administered free of cost.
Earlier, the govt had approved the jabs for those above 50 years, health workers, and immuno-compromised persons in wake of the new and more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The booster shots may become the new condition for fully vaccinated persons to ensure protection against the deadly disease.
On the other hand, On the other hand, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,297,235 on Monday after 708 new cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
This is the highest number of infections reported in a single day in the country since October 30, 2021.
As per the NCOC data, 45,643 tests were conducted in last 24 hours while positivity ratio remained 1.55%.
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 28,943 with 2 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 1,257,168 after another 144 virus recoveries were reported.