ISLAMABAD: Every adult over 19 years in Pakistan will be eligible to register for the COVID-19 vaccine starting tomorrow, Thursday.
Registration will be open for the entire national population approved to get the shot, said head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar on Wednesday.
The decision was made at an NCOC meeting earlier, Umar said on Twitter. People can register by sending their CNIC number to 1166.
The government plans to inoculate 70 million people–around 70% of the vaccine-eligible adult population–by the end of 2021.
Vaccinations for people in the 30- to 40-year age group began on Saturday.
So far, all the COVID-19 vaccines available in Pakistan are approved for people 18 years and above.
The shots being given are three Chinese-made ones, Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino, and the UK-made AstraZeneca vaccine supplied through COVAX. The later is only approved for those above 40 years.
The CanSino vaccine is also available as PakVac which was manufactured in Pakistan with the help of Chinese experts.
It’s the first ever COVID-19 vaccine developed in Pakistan. The single-dose shot was made at the National Institute of Health with the help of China’s CanSino Biologics.
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