Citizens 18 and above can now walk in for vaccinations: NCOC

Walk-in vaccination facility to all citizens above 18 will be open starting Friday, the National Command and Operation Centre announced on Wednesday.

"From 11th June onwards 18 years+ citizens will be able to avail the walk-in facility in vaccination centres," said the forum, in a statement.

The statement followed a meeting of the NCOC, chaired by Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives and co-chaired by National Coordinator Lt Gen Hamood uz Zaman Khan.

The forum undertook a comprehensive review of the vaccination process and implementation of Covid safety measures.

The NCOC said that the mass vaccination campaign will be continued under a three-pronged strategy.

• Voluntarily vaccinations by all citizens.
• Obligatory vaccinations for public and private sector employees. All public sector employees will have to be vaccinated by June 30, 2021.
• Incentivised vaccination campaign for which NCOC is considering introducing certain incentives for various sectors to encourage vaccination.

All vaccination centres will remain open daily from 8am to 10pm starting June 11, with the exception of Sunday, when they will be closed. They will remain open on Fridays as well.

Follow these steps to get registered for coronavirus vaccine in Pakistan

By the end of June, NCOC expects to complete the "process of developing IT based solutions for verification of vaccination certificates".

Rolling back of curbs

The NCOC has decided to roll back existing curbs starting June 15.

In this regard, all federating units have been asked to set aside one day for closure of activities, down from the previous two days of closure every week.

The 50% work from home policy will be relaxed to 100% work attendance.

Indoor gyms will now be allowed to partially reopen for vaccinated members only.

Only selective non contact sports will be permitted. A ban on contact sports (karate, boxing, MMA, rugby, kabbadi, wrestling, waterpolo) and festivals, cultural and other events will remain imposed.

Shrines will remain closed, as will cinemas.

Inter-provincial transport, which was banned twice a week, will now be open on all days.

Public transport will be allowed to have a 70% passenger occupancy, up from the previous 50% allowed.

"Current restrictions already announced by NCOC regarding recreation, education sector, mask-wearing SOP, and the Railways and inbound passengers policy will remain in place till further orders," the statement added.

Vaccinations open for citizens 18 and above

On May 31, NCOC chief Asad Umar had asked all citizens 18 and above to "register as soon as possible", saying that these people will be scheduled for vaccinations beginning June 3.

Two days prior to that, vaccinations had been opened up for citizens aged 30 and above and all teachers above 18.

Earlier, on May 21, vaccinations had opened to 18 year olds for the first time. At the time, however, they were not open to all citizens above 18.

The following conditions had to be met for an 18-30 year old to get vaccinated:

If you are working abroad on a work visa.

If you are a students studying abroad.

If you are a seafarer.

The decision was taken as several countries around the world, incorporations, various employers, universities, shipping companies have made vaccinations mandatory, the NCOC said at the time.

Vaccine statistics

The country, since the beginning of the vaccination drive in February which first opened for healthcare workers, has inoculated more than 10 million people, Umar said today.

According to NCOC, 335,790 jabs administered in the last 24 hours.