LAHORE: The Covid-19 death toll reached 8,951 in Punjab after 60 more patients died of the infection during the last 24 hours across the province.

Of them, 20 critical patients, who were on ventilators, died in Lahore. The city has been contributing a large number of infections and deaths to the provincial tally.

According to the update released by the Punjab government here on Saturday, 1,817 people tested positive for the virus during the last 24 hours across the province, taking the total number of infections in Punjab to 316,334.

Of the new cases, 791 were reported from Lahore, while others came from Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Chiniot, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Pakpattan, Gujrat, Bhakkar, Toba Tek Singh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhang, Sahiwal, Rajanpur, Vehari, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Attock, Lodhran, Narowal, Khanewal, Jhelum, Hafizabad, Bahawalnagar and Muzaffargarh.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the primary and secondary healthcare department on Saturday claimed that there was no shortage of vaccine in Punjab.

“There is no shortage of any vaccine in Punjab, including CanSino. The CanSino vaccine is being administered to citizens over 70 years of age in a single dose and adequate stock of this vaccine is available at all centres,” he added.

He said the vaccination process was going on as per routine.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2021