Pakistan aims to vaccinate 70M against COVID-19 by year's end

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan Monday said it will vaccinate 70 million people against coronavirus by the end of this year.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar, who leads the country’s anti-virus battle, said Islamabad is set to procure 20 million – 10 million each in June and July – doses of coronavirus vaccines in the next two months to further speed up its vaccination drive.

“Our target is to vaccinate 70 million Pakistanis by the end of this year. Insha Allah (God willing), with the support of our people, we will achieve this target,” Umar said.

The South Asian nuclear state of 207 million people has so far vaccinated over 7.5 million people, with a current rate of more than 350,000 vaccinations per day.

Meanwhile, the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet approved an amount of $130 million for the procurement of 10 million vaccine jabs in June, according to a statement.

Additional funds will also be provided for further buying, the statement added.

Islamabad had approved $150 million for the same purpose last year.

The otherwise raging third wave of COVID-19 has shown a downward trend in the country over the past few days, with 2,117 new infections and 43 deaths recorded on Monday.

The country’s overall caseload stands at 921,053 with 20,779 deaths since March 2020, according to the Health Ministry.