ISLAMABAD: As many as 1.3 million people — 84pc of the vaccine-eligible population — in the federal capital have received at least one jab of the Covid-19 vaccine.

On the other hand, one person died of coronavirus in Rawalpindi and 58 others got infected in the two districts during the last 24 hours.

District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia, while talking to Dawn, said 1,313,000 people had been administered one dose of the vaccine in Islamabad.

It is worth mentioning here that when the minimum age limit for vaccination was 18 years, the city had to inoculate over one million people. However, after it was brought down to 12 years, the vaccine-eligible population rose to 1,563,000.

“Islamabad has become the only city in the country which has administered at least one shot of the vaccine to 84pc of its residents,” Dr Zia said, adding that due to immunisation, the number of cases was continuously falling in the city.

“We have lifted the condition of segregated attendance in educational institutions and opened businesses as we are hopeful that the virus will remain under control,” he said.

The district health officer said residents should continue following the standard operating procedures and maintaining social distance.

“We are hopeful that cases will not increase again and even if they do during winter, there will be fewer hospitalisations in Islamabad. Even today we are mostly getting unvaccinated patients, majority of whom are from other cities,” he added.

Replying to a question about Covid-19 cases, he said 3,767 samples were collected on Saturday out of which results of 43 people were found positive, with the infection rate recorded at 1.14pc.

“We suggest citizens to get inoculated at the earliest so that chances of cases rising is minimised,” Dr Zia added.

Meanwhile, one person succumbed to Covid-19 in Rawalpindi district while 15 more got infected on Sunday. On the other hand, 18 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering during the last 24 hours.

A total of 1,256 people were tested out of whom 15 were found infected. The positivity rate in the district increased slightly from 1pc to 1.19pc.

In Rawalpindi district, there were 247 active patients out of whom 39 were in hospitals and 208 home isolated.

Most patients came from Rawalpindi out of whom four arrived from the cantonment, eight were from the city areas, three from Potohar Town and two patients arrived from Kahuta.

As many as 39 patients were admitted to city hospitals, with one patient under treatment in Holy Family Hospital, 12 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 19 were in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and seven patients were admitted to Fauji Foundation Hospital.

There are three patients on ventilator, 20 on oxygen and 15 are stable.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2021