Pakistan has fully vaccinated over 20 million people, or roughly 14 percent of the total eligible population, Planning Minister Asad Umar said, adding the government aimed to fully vaccinate half of the eligible people ( roughly 70 million) by the end of the year. 

The vaccination pace picked pace recently after the supply of vaccines from multiple sources. However, daily infections have again started rising recently. On Thursday, over 3600 Covid-19 cases were detected. 

Umar said 69 percent of Islamabad's population, 51 percent of Pakistan’s administered Kashmir, 39 percent of Gilgit Baltistan's, 37 percent of Punjab's population, 35 percent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's, 32 percent of Sindh and 12 percent of Balochistan population had received at least one vaccine dose.

He said early this year, the government had set a daunting task of vaccinating 70 million people by the end of the year. And, he hoped that they would achieve the goal. 

Significantly, the country has also used coercive methods to increase vaccinations. One of the tactics was the threat to block mobile sim cards of unvaccinated people. In Punjab, the country’s most populous province reported a high vaccination pace following these initiatives. 

Recently, the surge in Covid cases in Sindh, an industrial southern province, sparked a spat between the state and central government. The former was in favor of imposing complete lockdown while the latter refused, citing grave economic consequences. 

(SAM)