Featured CoronaVirus in Pakistan - Updates & Discussion

[ghazi52]

Cuba has offered to establish a centre for vaccine production in Pakistan which can be used for both indigenous use and exports, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology on Tuesday.

Ambassador of Cuba Zener Javier Caro Gonzalez floated the proposal during his meeting with Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz, the statement added.

The development comes days after Cuba approved its home-grown Abdala vaccine for emergency use, the first Latin American coronavirus jab to reach this stage and a possible lifeline for a region trying to battle a killer pandemic with modest means.

The country's CECMED health regulator gave the go-ahead on Friday after Abdala's makers last month announced the vaccine candidate was more than 92 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19 disease after three doses.

Cuba is working on five coronavirus vaccines, and in May started immunising its population using two of them — Abdala and Soberana 2 — even before they received approval.

In today’s meeting, both sides also discussed the measures taken by their respective governments to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Shibli Faraz emphasised the need for enhancing cooperation between the two countries in various fields especially science and technology.

He highlighted that both countries can benefit from the experiences of each other in agriculture, water conservation and biotechnology.

The minister also appreciated the Cuban medical scholarships offered to Pakistani students.

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan has reported 47 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 981,392. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 22,689 on Thursday.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 2,545 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

A total of 48,910 tests were conducted during the previous 24 hours, out of which results of 2,545 patients came back positive. The positivity rate of infections was recorded at 5.20 per cent.

Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Till now 10,852 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 5,647 in Sindh, 4,377 in KP, 787 in Islamabad, 596 in Azad Kashmir, 317 in Balochistan, and 113 in GB.

Furthermore 351,006 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 349,111 in Punjab, 139,960 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 84,083 in Islamabad, 28,588 in Balochistan, 21,481 in Azad Kashmir and 7,163 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

 

[ghazi52]

Another AstraZeneca consignment reaches Pakistan under COVAX

ISLAMABAD: A second consignment of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has reached Pakistan under the COVAx programme, a health ministry official confirmed Saturday.

According to Sajid Shah, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, 1.236 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been delivered to Islamabad.

The spokesperson said that this is the second shipment of AstraZeneca under COVAX and the fourth overall.

Earlier, Pakistan also received 160,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine under COVAX and 2.5 million doses of Moderna from the United States.

 

[Ali_Baba]

Additionally - with the UK pretty much no longer administering Astra- Zeneca due to the required target groups having being vaccinated ( ie above 40's ) and with the UK having manufacturing capilities of Astra - Pakistan should look to purchase direct from the UK now as the UK has spare capacity. Vaccines are being sold at cost-price.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

Another batch of 700,000 doses of Sinopharm's anti-Covid vaccine reached Pakistan on Tuesday, with the second consignment of 600,000 doses scheduled to arrive later in the day.

According to health ministry officials, two million doses of Sinopharm will arrive in Pakistan in three batches.

Earlier, 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, donated to Pakistan by the US government, arrived earlier in July.

Statistics from the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) show that 4.5 million people have been vaccinated all over Pakistan, with 22.7 million doses of various vaccines administered.

The positivity rate on Tuesday remained 5.25% with 37 deaths in the country.

Other than the Chinese vaccine, the government had also approved AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines. The Russian-made Sputnik vaccine was also imported by the private sector for its use in the country.

The government expects more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this month.

 

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'God have mercy on us': Hospitals in Karachi reaching capacity as Delta variant spreads
Reuters | Dawn.comPublished July 20, 2021 - Updated about 15 hours ago
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People wait to get vaccinated against Covid-19 at a centre in Karachi. — Reuters/File
The spread of the coronavirus Delta variant is reaching alarming levels in Karachi on the eve of Eidul Azha as public and some private sector hospitals are reaching capacity and have started refusing patients, medical officials said on Tuesday.
The Sindh government said on Monday that the Covid-19 situation in the city is becoming serious, and warned people that ignoring precautionary measures during the three-day Eid holiday could make matters worse.
During the past 24 hours, the coronavirus positivity rate in the metropolis increased to 25.7 per cent, nearly five times the national rate of 5.25pc.
"Government hospitals have reached saturation point, something not witnessed during previous waves, and even some private hospitals are refusing patients," said Dr Qaiser Sajjad, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association.

"God have mercy on us as people are not taking this pandemic seriously. Such irresponsible behaviour on the Eid festival will make matters worse," Sajjad told Reuters.
The Delta variant could spread during the holiday as people travel from cities like Karachi to their home towns.
According to the Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Karachi, there is 92.2pc prevalence of the Delta variant in the city.
Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of Jinnah Hospital, Karachi's biggest, told Reuters that 77 out of its 90 coronavirus beds were occupied and it was planned to add more.
"We did not face such a capacity situation during previous waves," Jamali said. "The situation is getting pretty bad."
The Eid holiday and upcoming elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on July 25 could prove to be super spreader events, as government and opposition are busy holding big public gatherings, the two doctors warned.
Editorial: Pakistan is lucky not to have plunged into an all-out disaster yet, but Delta variant can take us there
Earlier, sources had told Dawn the health facilities where Covid-19 beds were now largely occupied included the Sindh Institute of Infectious Diseases — a key government facility providing quality free-of-cost treatment to coronavirus patients — Ojha campus of Dow University of Health Sciences, Qatar General Hospital, Civil Hospital Karachi, Lyari General Hospital, Indus Hospital and the 140-bed facility set up at Expo Centre.
Delta variant has 'spread across Karachi'
"The Delta variant is highly contagious and has spread across the city," said Associate Professor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan at the Jamilur Rahman Centre for Genomics Research at KU.
He regretted public behaviour and said people were not taking the Delta variant seriously.
"They are thinking that the fourth coronavirus wave won't affect them as has happened during the past Covid-19 episodes. But, unfortunately, this might not be the case this time," he said, calling for strict enforcement of SOPs.
Read: Pakistan ranks 30th after recording 15,000 virus cases in a week
Last week, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, said hospitals were seeing a rapid build-up in the influx of Covid patients. He had earlier warned of a fourth wave if precautionary measures were not followed.
First identified in India in March, Delta variant has spread to more than 90 countries and is also the most dominant variant in India, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, Singapore and more than a dozen other countries.
The variant, scientists say, has features that allow it to evade some of the body’s immune system defences. Plus, it has the highest transmissibility of any variant so far, a dangerous combination.
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Health crisis looms large over Karachi as Delta variant spreads

65 more cases of Delta variant detected in Karachi on July 12 and 13: KU institute

Covid positivity, cases soar overnight as Delta variant fuels concerns

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[Valar.]

607K vaccines administered in a day.
157K got fully vaccinated(2nd dose mostly)
450K got their 1st dose in a day.
Most of the vaccines we are using requires 2nd dose to be administered within 3-4 weeks.
Meaning, all those 450K people who got their 1st dose will be getting their 2nd dose within a month.
Assuming that the trend of 450K people coming to get their first dose continues, we would see 900K people getting vaccinated within a day(450K 1st dose + 450K 2nd dose). And it might reach even 1 million doses per day.
I read somewhere previously that our maximum capacity is 1 million doses per day. So, we can handle it easily. But, if it increases more than a million then we would need to expand our vaccination capabilities/capacity, which is need of the hour anyway.

Anyway, glad to see more people getting vaccinated. Hopefully, this trend continues. Ameen.

 

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

 

[Valar.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1418263739309203458

 

[ghazi52]

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus situation is worsening in the country with each passing day as Pakistan reported 40 more deaths, taking the national death tally to 22,928 on Thursday, the second day of Eid ul Adha.

As per the data on the National Command and Operations Centre's (NCOC) official website, the coronavirus positivity rate has been recorded at 6.30% and the number of active cases in the country stands at 52,752.

The country reported 2,158 new cases with the total tally rising to 998,609 as of today


A total of 34,216 people were tested for the infection on Wednesday, said the NCOC.

About 922,929 people have recovered in the country so far.

Eidul Adha should be celebrated in a 'closed, limited' environment: Dr Faisal Sultan

Last week, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had said Eidul Adha will be celebrated in a "limited, closed" environment, hinting at more restrictions to curb the virus spread amid fears of a fourth wave.

The minister was speaking on Geo Pakistan about the spike in coronavirus cases and the measures being taken by the federal government.

When asked whether Eidul Adha in Pakistan will be observed in a lockdown-type situation, the minister responded by saying that the festival should be celebrated in a "limited, closed" environment.

He spoke about the new Delta variant of the coronavirus, saying that the mutations in each new variant of the virus make it very easy to "jump from one person to another".

"This variant is spreading at a pace of 50-60%," he said.

 

[Valar.]

Our vaccination rate/drive has slowed down to due to Eid.

2 days before Eid, it reached all time high of 607K doses in a day.

First day of Eid was holiday.

2nd of Eid, 180K doses administered.

3rd day of Eid(friday), 366K doses administered.

Today is saturday/4th day of Eid. Data will be available tomorrow.

And tomorrow is Sunday on which now vaccination centres will be closed(bad idea).

Hopefully, from monday, our vaccination drive will shoot up.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1418817320307265552

 

[ghazi52]