The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) announced more restrictions for unvaccinated people who would not be able to avail public transport and travel on highways and motorways after October 15.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad after chairing an NCOC meeting, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar said a single dose vaccination is necessary for travelling on highways and motorways after September 15 while after October 15, no one would be allowed to use the motorway without vaccination. He said vaccination has been made mandatory for air travel after September 30 while those working in transportation of educational institutions must take their doses before the date.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Faisal Sultan said citizens of 17-18 years age group would be allowed to get the COVID-19 vaccine from September 1 while those falling in age brackets of 15 to 16 would be vaccinated soon.
Asad Umar went on to say that a single dose vaccination is necessary for travelling on highways after September 15 while after October 15, no one would be allowed to use the motorway without vaccination. He said school teachers and staff would also not be allowed to work after October 15 if they are not vaccinated.
The NCOC also decided that unvaccinated people would not be allowed to enter shopping malls from August 31, he said while a single dose vaccination will be mandatory for entry into the malls after the date. From September 30, only those people having taken their both jabs will be allowed to enter shopping malls. Only those people who have taken one jab will be allowed to enter hotels from August 31 while complete vaccination will be mandatory for entry from September 30.
Dr Faisal Sultan said immunocompromised citizens aged 12 and above would get special recommended COVID-19 vaccine at mega vaccination centres. Similarly, he said those Pakistanis who want to travel abroad and need specific vaccine as per respective country’s requirement would be able to get such vaccine, adding that the vaccine would be allowed not on the basis of medical grounds but for their travelling requirement. He said that for this purpose, they have to show their visa of the respective country while this vaccine would be allowed on nominal charges. He said this category would be allowed for vaccination from September 1. He said payment would be charged only in this category as the government wants to facilitate all those students or businessmen or tourists who want to visit abroad but are facing hurdles for not having the required vaccination.
Dr Faisal said the government has started consideration to initiate booster after six months of second shot to above 50-year frontline healthcare workers. He said after consultation, this booster is likely to start from October 1.
Meanwhile, 91 corona patients lost their battle for life in the 24 hours — the highest tally of deaths in a day — taking the total death toll to 25,094 since the eruption of the pandemic in the country.
The national tally of active cases was recorded as 91,046 on Tuesday with 4,075 more people testing positive and 2,857 people recovering during the 24 hours. Out of 91 patients who died, 77 were under treatment in the hospitals while 14 were in their respective quarantines or homes, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Most of the deaths occurred in the Punjab followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
