Six months on, tracking Pakistan’s vaccination process: All you need to know
Pakistan proudly soars high on the cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country.
As the fourth and dangerous wave is on the wane, nearly 8 million people have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and almost 24 million got one dose in Pakistan.
As per the National COC, Cumulatively, 35,564,636 people have been administered the first vaccine dose with 622,537 in the last 24 hours, 12,658,359 people received two doses with 296,892 in the last 24 hours and a total of 44,322,271 are vaccinated.
A few days earlier, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) decided to minimize the duration for the second dose from 42 to 28 days after getting affirmation from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. They also decided to permit only fully vaccinated people to travel by air from Sept onwards.
Pakistan steps up the Covid19 vaccine roll out making it a historic record of 30 million doses administered to date.
Which vaccines are being used for COVID19 in Pakistan?
About seven vaccines have been approved for use in Pakistan, these include:
BIBP Vaccine (Sinopharm) (Approved in 60 countries)
BioNTech, Pfizer Vaccine (Approved in 97 countries)
CanSino Vaccine (Approved in 8 countries)
Moderna Vaccine (Approved in 68 countries)
Oxford, AstraZeneca Vaccine (Approved in 121 countries)
Sputnik V Vaccine (Approved in 71 countries)
CoronaVac/SinoVac Vaccine (Approved in 39 countries)
Over 8 million doses of COVID19 vaccines have landed in Pakistan through COVAX so far and more are on the way. This is the first dose of Sinopharm vaccine consignment to have arrived in Pakistan bringing the total number of doses delivered by the Global Facility including the 6.1 million doses of Sinopharm, 5.5 million doses of Moderna granted by the United States under COVAX’ dose-sharing mechanism, 100,160 doses of Pfizer and 2.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
In a bid to verify the certificates, a few days earlier, the NCOC in collaboration with the National Database And Registration Authority (NADRA) launched a digital app to authenticate vaccination certificates issued to people after their vaccination.
The Ministry of National Health Sciences reported that with the surging number of Covid-19 cases, the NCOC would speed up the vaccination process in the country.
“We have vaccinated 10 million people in 12 to 15 days, but we want to further increase the vaccination process as the majority of people do not follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs),” the official said, further adding that the NCOC was using all possible channels to get the maximum doses of Covid-19 vaccine.
For first dose: Register yourself by sending your CNIC number to 1166 from any mobile no or visit nims.nadra.gov.pk and just walk-in to nearest centre for vaccination.
For second dose: Message to citizens will be sent automatically 48/24 hours before the due date from 1166.
*Note. Ensure that your 1st dose entry is made in NIMS by the vaccination center.
What to do once you are fully vaccinated?
You can resume many activities that you did before the pandemic even began, but the CDC recommends wearing a mask in places where there is a risk of high transmission.
According to the South Carolina Department, of Health and Environmental Control, it was noted that majority of Delta variant cases and deaths in South Carolina in the month of July were those who were not fully vaccinated. Therefore, those who are not fully vaccinated need to be extra cautious.
Questions regarding vaccination:
Is it necessary to boost or not to boost? A lot of countries are arguing whether to go for a booster shot after soaring infection numbers caused by the dangerous Delta variant and giving a clue that immunity triggered by the Corona Virus might fade over time. Countries like Russia, Germany, China, and UAE have already started administering the extra doses. But according to some medical experts, the case for COVID-19 vaccine boosters at this point is not strong enough to discuss.
Vaccination is important for pregnant women
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that vaccination during pregnancy has become even more important as the ICU beds across the world fill up with more pregnant women.
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