PESHAWAR: The health department has announced that 30 per cent of the targeted adult population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been vaccinated against coronavirus and the vaccine jabs will be given to 10 million more people in the next two months.

The announcement comes amid 18 more deaths from the infection and 571 new cases in the province.

“We’ve vaccinated 7.3 million people, who make around 30 per cent of the targeted population, against Covid-19 and will take the target to 40 per cent of the population by August 31 through 750 inoculation centres and around 30 mobile vans. We are vaccinating 200,000 people daily and will administer the vaccine shots to an estimated 10 million people in the next two months,” health minister Taimur Salim Jhagra told a presser here.

Accompanied by spokesman for the government Kamran Khan Bangash, the minister said 76 per cent of the people registered for vaccination had been vaccinated since the start of the inoculation drive.

He said majority of the vaccinated people were safe from the infection and only two per cent of such people were infected with the virus after their inoculation.

Plans to administer vaccine to 10m people in two months

Mr Jhagra appreciated the administrations and health officials of Chitral region for administering the first and second doses of the vaccine to over 65 per cent and 40 per cent population, respectively.

He said the Pakistan Army was being engaged to ensure the people’s adherence to the standard operating procedure to stem the spread of Covid-19 as the fourth wave of the virus was dangerous due to the faster spread compared with the past.

The minister said vaccination rates were increasing across the province except for a few districts.

He said 32,000 persons were vaccinated in Peshawar only on Friday.

“Immunisation provides up to 98 per cent protection against coronavirus and therefore, all people should receive the vaccine shots without delay,” he said.

Mr Jhagra said the pace of vaccination was satisfactory in Kurram, Orakzai, Charsadda, Abbottabad and Mansehra districts.

Mr Bangash said he had been tasked by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan with ensuring better public awareness of coronavirus vaccination.

He said the markets would remain closed for two days a week, while indoor and outdoor wedding functions weren’t allowed.

The chief minister’s aide said the government was taking more and more steps to make the people follow precautions against Covid-19.

He said the government would act against the officials over negligence in vaccination duties and reward those with good performance.

Mr Bangash said the government was focusing on the non-pharmaceutical interventions along with mass vaccination to achieve the anti-coronavirus targets.

Meanwhile, the district administration if Peshawar continued to arrest and seal shops over the SOP violations as the Covid-19 positivity rate reached 13.5 per cent.

In a news release, the administration said 413 owners of vehicles and 235 passengers were fined and 16 restaurant managers and 42 shopkeepers were arrested for violating SOPs.

It added that 39 shops were sealed for the same reason on the directives of deputy commissioner Khalid Mahmood Meanwhile, a health department report said five people died of coronavirus in Peshawar and Abbottabad each, two in Swat, Swabi and Dera Ismail Khan each, one in Mardan and Bannu each.

According to it, Peshawar recorded 193 new coronavirus cases, Mansehra 85, Mardan 54, Nowshera 52, Abbottabad 48, Dera Ismail Khan 47, Swabi 38, Lower Chitral 33, Swat 23, Haripur 20, Bannu 17 and Kohat 15.

Deaths from the virus in the province totalled 4,927 and cases 160,759.

The report said 147,852 infected people had so far recovered from the infection in the province and 535 recoveries had reported in the last 24 hours.

It said the province had 7,980 active coronavirus patients and carried out 11,601 tests.

According to it, the virus positivity rate reached 8.8 per cent in Mardan, 6.9 per cent in Nowshera, 6.8 per cent in Abbottabad and 6.6 per cent in Swabi.

Peshawar district reported 193 new cases, Mansehra 85, Mardan 54, Nowshera 52, Abbottabad 48, Dera Ismail Khan 47, Swabi 38, Lower Chitral 33, Swat 23, Haripur 20, Bannu 17 and Kohat 15.

The report said currently, 1,750 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the province and 56 of them were on ventilator.

It added that Nowshera had 88 per cent bed occupancy, Swabi 80 per cent, Abbottabad 73 per cent, Swat 71 per cent, Peshawar 55 per cent and Mardan 39 per cent.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2021