Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan has announced that around seven million doses of AstraZeneca would reach Pakistan in the first quarter of the current year. The doses of the vaccine will be given to the public free of cost. Pakistan’s vaccine drive starts next week, beginning with frontline healthcare workers.
The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) has released an eight-step procedure to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan. The plan aims to vaccinate people under an integrated digital system following the best international practices, according to a statement by the NCOC. All details of immunisation will be handled through the National Immunisation Management System, which the federal government developed last year.
Pakistan will stop issuing manual visas from next month and has asked non-resident Pakistanis and others interested in travelling to the country to apply online for electronic or e-visas. This change applies to all Pakistani missions and embassies across the globe will stop issuing manual visas from Feb 1. Pakistan stopped issuing manual passports several years ago.
The Pakistan International Airlines has confirmed that the captain of a Lahore-bound commercial flight, PK-304, had spotted “an extraordinary object” hovering in the sky in the airspace between Multan and Sahiwal on January 23. A PIA spokesman said that the captain saw something over 1,000 feet above his aircraft, which was at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
Pakistan ranked 124 out of 180 countries — dropping four spots over last year — in the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International. The 2020 edition of the CPI, an annual index that ranks countries based on perceptions of public sector corruption, ranked 180 countries and territories, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.
The Punjab government has reimposed its ban on basant celebrations across the province and initiated action against businesses involved in the purchase and sale of kites. The decision was taken by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. He has instructed the police to ensure action against anyone violating the ban and government orders.
The government is likely to bear $6 to $7 per dose of millions of shots if it opts to pick the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, which has been approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap). However, the vaccine’s sole authorised local distributor is at the moment unable to give a proper timeline for the supply.
Seven staff at one of Pakistan’s biggest power plants have been suspended after a technical fault sparked a massive grid breakdown at the weekend, plunging the entire country into darkness. The employees at Guddu thermal power plant in Sindh province were suspended “on account of the negligence of duty”. The suspended staff included a manager and six junior employees.
Educational institutions in the country will reopen in phases from January 18, the government has announced. Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said that in the first phase, classes nine to 12 would be allowed to resume. He said that in the next phase, classes one to eight would resume on Jan 25. All higher educational institutions would resume from Feb 1, he added.
Dr Omar Atiq, a Pakistani oncologist who lives in the US, has made headlines for wiping away $650,000 in debt for patients at his cancer treatment centre in Arkansas. Dr Atiq told his 200 patients of the news in a Christmas greeting card. The clinic shut down in late February after 29 years of service. The card also announced its closure.