• 450 health professionals to receive jabs every day
• Twin cities report two deaths, over 100 cases

ISLAMABAD: With over 17,000 frontline healthcare workers having registered for inoculation, the federal capital is all set to start its Covid-19 vaccination at nine centres set up in the city.

As many as 450 healthcare workers will be vaccinated daily for a few days.

On the other hand, the twin cities reported two deaths and 118 new cases.

In Islamabad, 6,713 samples were collected on Saturday out of which 104 were found positive. However, no death was reported in the capital.

Rawalpindi district, meanwhile, recorded two deaths and 14 new patients during the last 24 hours.

In another development, a special plane left for China on Sunday to bring the vaccine. The plane is expected to return on Monday along with the doses.

“We have completed the vaccine administration exercise in the nine centres established across the city; vaccination will start as soon as the vaccine is received,” District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia told Dawn.

Replying to a question, he said around 50 healthcare workers would be vaccinated in each centre every day.

“A total of 450 healthcare workers will be vaccinated every day at the nine centres. However, after some time, the number of those receiving the jabs might vary. Each vaccine recipient will have to stay at the centre for 30 minutes for post-vaccination monitoring,” he said.

The reason behind holding back the vaccine recipients is to monitor them for any minor side-effects or allergy.

When asked about the number of cases on Sunday, Dr Zia said 104 people had been infected with the virus.

He reiterated that people should continue to follow the standard operating procedures as precaution was the best vaccine at the moment.

The district health officer hoped that the process of vaccination would be completed smoothly after which the second and third phases [in which citizens of over 65 years and over 50 years will be vaccinated] would start.

Rawalpindi

Two persons died of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours while 14 people contracted the virus in the district.

PTI activist and Insaf Lawyers Wing chairman Advocate Shahid Naseem Gondal passed away at the Military Hospital Rawalpindi on Saturday night while Mohammad Pervez, 65, a resident of Kallar Syedan, died at Holy Family Hospital on Sunday where he had been admitted on Jan 30.

Out of 14 new patients, 12 arrived from Rawalpindi city and cantonment areas and two from Kallar Syedan.

The district has so far reported 316 active cases out of which 74 are in hospitals and 242 home isolated. As many as 471 patients are waiting for their Covid-19 serology results for the last three days.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that six patients were on ventilators while 25 required oxygen assistance.

Attock

The district witnessed another surge in novel coronavirus cases on Sunday.

Seven patients surfaced during the last 24 hours, raising the tally to 1,204 confirmed cases in the district.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Dr Jawad Elahi said all cases belonged to Fatehjang.

He said the number of active patients in the district had surged to 79 and all were home isolated, adding one suspected patient was also under treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital.

Responding to a question, Dr Elahi said the number of suspected cases in the district was 24,456, adding results of 305 patients were awaited.

The health official said so far 1,098 positive patients have recovered in the district.

On the other hand, three more people got infected in Taxila during the last 24 hours, raising the figure of confirmed cases in the tehsil to 930.

He said among the new patients, two belonged to Wah and one was from Taxila.

Sources said the number of active patients in the area had risen to 325, adding that the number of patients having recovered so far was 578. — Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2021