Fully vaccinated people 7 times less likely to get Covid: Asad

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Asad Umar on Friday said people with both doses of a coronavirus jab are seven times less likely to get infected with the virus compared to those who are not vaccinated.

“Even people who have received the first dose have a four times lower risk of the disease as compared unvaccinated people,” Umar said while addressing a media briefing here, along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan.

Urging people to get vaccinated, the minister, who is also chairman of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said this was the only way to get rid of the disease.

His remarks come as Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity ratio was recorded at 6.1 per cent, the highest since late May. At least 2,327 more people tested positive, while 31 people died in the 24 hour period leading to Friday.

Showing results of research on the vaccination process in Pakistan, the minister said from February 3, 2021 — when the vaccination started — to July 1, some 17.7 million people received vaccines, out of which 6.2 million people had received both jabs.

During the period, he said, 490,000 cases of Covid-19 were reported which counts for 0.3 per cent of the whole adult population (18 years and above) which is around 125 million in the country. He said 0.08 per cent or 9,917 cases were reported among those who received the first dose, whereas 0.04 per cent or 5,500 people with complete vaccination were infected with the virus.

“This means every one out of 333 Pakistani citizens was infected, but if we see among the people who got first dose, only one out of 1,250 people was reported positive and among those who were completely vaccinated, only one out of 2,500 people was reported Covid positive,” Umar added.

He said the data shows that health experts, doctors or scientist were not giving their opinions, but they had speaking equipped with facts based on real results of vaccinations in Pakistan. He said even in vaccinated people who got subsequently infected, the seriousness of the disease was far lower compared to those who were not vaccinated.

He said the Delta variant, which originated in India, has had the worst impact on the whole region but “the good news is that if you got vaccinated, the risk would be minimised”.

The world has praised Pakistan’s strategy to cope with the pandemic, therefore in order to maintain this positive image, all Pakistanis are urged to get vaccinated and follow SOPs especially during Eid holidays.

Expressing satisfaction over the rising trend of vaccinations in the country, he said for the last four days the number of people receiving jabs remained over 500,000. However, he said this was not enough as the government had sufficient stock of vaccines so more people should get vaccinated.