Third virus wave more lethal, warns Centre

ISLAMABAD:   –  Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said Sunday that the third wave of coronavirus was more lethal as compared to previous as its mortality rate is also higher.

While talking to a private news channel, he said the third wave is the spread of the UK strain as the new strain of the COVID-19 was more transmissible than the original. 

He said 350,000 people who are above 60 years had vaccinated, adding that vaccination registration would open for people aged 50 or above in coming 10 days. Replying to a question about side-effects of vaccine, he said there was not a single case had been reported in the country in that regard.

The minister said those who were in 60 or above must be registered their names for vaccination because coronavirus could hit them easily, he said, adding we already have vaccines for everyone in Pakistan who has registered. Asad Umar said the government had placed its order for COVID-19 vaccine to a company for 30 million.

people of the country, adding it was confident that the first batch of vaccine would be received during the current month or next.

Asad Umar also said that the $150 million budget set aside for the purchase of coronavirus vaccines that had been approved by the cabinet can be increased.

Umar said while Pakistan, in line with other countries, does not plan to vaccinate youngsters aged 18 years or younger, around 110 million people are those who must be vaccinated. “We had aggressively planned on vaccinating at least 60-70% of this number.”

“Purchase deals are being made with two companies. We have closed the deal with one and in two to three days will be sealing it with the other.” “From end of March to the end of April we will have several hundred thousand of these purchased vaccines as well,” the minister said. The cabinet approval for use of $150 million for purchase of vaccines can be increased if required, he added.”Procurement of vaccines will not be stopped due to monetary considerations,” Umar asserted.

Replying to another question about PDM’s long march, he said it was the day one’s stance of Prime Minister Imran Khan that the government would not stop the opposition’s protest. He appealed to opposition that they do not play with the lives and health of the people for their own interests and they should avoid political statements over the issue of coronavirus spreading.

He said Sindh government should avoid playing politics over the matter of coronavirus vaccine, adding that after the passage of the18th constitutional amendment health had become a provincial subject, adding provinces were responsible to buy the vaccines because federal government was already doing more than its responsibilities.

As the third wave of the Coronavirus intensifies in the country, Punjab on Sunday morning reported more than 1,600 Covid-19 cases, for the first time since June 2020.

According to the government’s Coronavirus portal, 1,653 new infections were detected in the province in the last 24 hours, marking the fifth straight day Punjab recorded more than 1,000 cases. The last time the province reported such a high number of cases was during the first wave on June 24, 2020, when it confirmed 1,655 infections. The province’s tally now stands at 185,468. Amongst majority of the cases reported on Sunday, 973 were in Lahore, followed by 81 in Gujranwala, 76 in Sialkot, and 73 in Rawalpindi, according to the daily situation report. The provincial caseload has risen to 185,468. Punjab also recorded 21 more deaths on Sunday, taking its total number of fatalities to 5,753 — the highest in Pakistan.

Amid the rising cases, the major lockdown in seven Punjab cities, restricting the movement of the people to their homes, will start from Monday (today) for two weeks, after a gap of a year. During the first wave of the infection, the government had imposed a complete lockdown across the province in March 2020. The Punjab cities under lockdown from today will be Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Gujrat.

Pakhtunkhwa reported 368 new cases while Balochistan recorded 18 more cases during the past 24 hours. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reported 368 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and six more deaths, taking the provincial tally of infections to 75,725 and the total number of fatalities to 2,153. Meanwhile, Balochistan recorded 18 fresh cases of the virus, taking its total to 19,206. It has not confirmed any Coronavirus-related fatality for the last four days.

Pakistan on Sunday morning reported 32 more deaths and 2,664 new cases of Covid-19. According to the latest statistics, 570,571 people have so far recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, 1,805 virus patients are in critical condition.