Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for Covid-19 two days after receiving his first vaccine dose, government officials said on Saturday, urging people not to be deterred from getting vaccinated.
Pakistan's vaccination roll-out has been met with widespread vaccine hesitancy, and Khan's positive test could serve as a setback to the mass inoculation drive in the country of 220 million people, health experts said.
Khan, 68, is "self isolating at home," Health Minister Faisal Sultan, said in a tweet, and a close aide said he had a mild cough and fever.
Senior aides stressed that he had likely been infected before he was vaccinated on Thursday.
While it was not clear which vaccine the prime minister was given, the vaccine produced by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) is the only one available in Pakistan.
Khan expressed concern after his positive test result that it could deter ordinary people from getting vaccinated, his advisor Shahbaz Gill told a local television.