Pakistan opens walk-in vaccinations for over 40s

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is going to open walk-in coronavirus vaccinations for all people above the age of 40 from today as inoculations gain pace with Covid-related fatalities and hospital admissions remain high.

“Starting tomorrow (Wednesday) the 12th of May all 40 plus who have registered will be able to walk into any vaccination centre of their choice and get vaccinated. Please note that vaccination centres are open and will only be closing for two days on Eid,” National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar tweeted on Tuesday.

The number of fully vaccinated people in Pakistan amounted to 938,948, while 1.7 million were partially vaccinated. In the 24 hours leading to Tuesday, the country administered a little over 101,000 doses.

It comes as NCOC data showed daily cases dropping to 3,084, with markedly lower testing at just above 38,000, compared to more than 71,000 tests in mid-April. Fatalities remained high at 113. Active Covid cases were 78,959. A total of 864,557 cases have been detected so far, with 19,106 deaths. Hospitalised patients remained consistently above the 5,000 mark across the country, with 5,353 patients admitted as of Tuesday. Of those admitted, 607 were on ventilators. The cities with the highest occupancy rates were Multan, 70 per cent; Lahore, 64 per cent; Gujranwala, 59 per cent; and Peshawar, 40 per cent.

Oxygen beds occupancy was high in the cities of Multan, 64 per cent; Gujranwala 54 per cent; Peshawar, 52 per cent; and Swabi, 52 per cent.