Sindh allows booster shots of vaccine amid Omicron threat

KARACHI: As international countries, including Pakistan’s, race to contain Omicron, a new significantly mutated Covid-19 strain. Sindh’s government approved the delivery of a Pfizer booster shot aimed at halting the spread of the new strain on Sunday.

Sindh Health Secretary Zulfiqar Ali Shah stated that the provincial government has made a decision in this regard and that a notification will be released soon.

He claimed that all fully vaccinated people can take advantage of the service. That will be supplied free of charge by the Sindh government. The decision was made in response to fears of a fresh Covid-19 outbreak in the province.

Omicron variant, a new Covid-19 threat!

Because of suspicions that the variety, now known as Omicron, is highly infectious. It has put doubt on global attempts to combat the epidemic. Compelling governments to reimpose safeguards that many had assumed were no longer necessary. Scientists are trying to figure just how dangerous the significantly altered strain is, especially if it can avoid existing vaccines.

Several governments have also stated that travel from southern Africa, where the virus was initially discovered, will be restricted. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) banned travelers from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, and Hong Kong from entering the country on Saturday.

The NCOC’s leader, Planning Minister Asad Umar, acknowledged the travel restrictions on six South African countries and Hong Kong but added that the discovery of the new variation emphasized the importance of vaccinating all eligible residents.

Based on the emergence of the new Covid variant, notification has been issued to restrict travel from 6 South African countries and Hong Kong,” Umar said in a tweet.

 “The emergence of new variant makes it even more urgent to vaccinate all eligible citizens 12 years and older,” he added.

Meanwhile, global authorities were alarmed on Friday after a new coronavirus variation was discovered in South Africa. With the EU and the United Kingdom among those increasing border controls as experts attempted to determine whether the mutation was vaccine-resistant.

Read More: Everything to know about the Omicron variant of Covid-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) urged against premature steps after Britain stopped flights from South Africa and neighboring nations and asked travelers returning from there to be quarantined.

Covid situation in Pakistan

Fortunately, no deaths were reported owing to coronavirus on Sunday; nonetheless, 3,081 testings revealed 37 new cases. According to a statement released by CM House on Sunday, 3,081 samples were examined, with 37 cases discovered, representing a current detection rate of 1.2 percent. Currently, there are 6,378 patients undergoing treatment, with 6,162 in home isolation. In addition to that 14 were in isolation centers, and 202 were in various hospitals.

The condition of 197 patients was described as critical, with 16 being placed on ventilators.

Furthermore, Karachi has been linked to 35 of the 37 new cases. The announcement shared immunization data, stating that 23,935,812 vaccines have been administered as of November 26. In the last 24 hours, at least 74,143 people have been immunized, according to the report.

Moreover, vaccines have been administered to a total of 24,009,955 people, accounting for 44.67 percent of the vaccine-eligible population.

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