Want to vaccinate 70m people by end of 2021: minister

Pakistan’s government intends to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of 2021, Federal Minister Asad Umar said Monday.

“We want to reach the target of 70 million by the end of this year,” Umar, who also head the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), told reporters in Islamabad.

The minister said over 5.2 million people have been vaccinated across the country.

Pakistan is going to start coronavirus vaccinations of Pakistanis above 18 years from June 3.

On May 29, the government opened walk-in vaccination for people above the age of 30 years.

Earlier this week, Pakistan received more than 100,000 doses of Pfizer. According to the WHO, the Pfizer vaccine was provided to the country free of cost through COVAX, the WHO vaccine-sharing alliance.

It will be used in the government’s immunisation drive, along with the Sinopharm, Cansino, Sinovac, and Astrazeneca vaccines.

The minister said that the government is going to start an awareness campaign next week to convince people to get vaccinated against the virus. He added that President Arif Alvi will hold a meeting with religious clerics and ask them to convince people to get vaccinated.