Tag: COVID vaccine

  • Russia’s Sputnik V shot around 83% effective against Delta variant

    Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 is around 83 per cent effective against the Delta variant of the virus, lower than previously thought, Reuters quoted Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko as saying.

    Russian authorities blamed the rise in coronavirus cases in June and July on the more contagious Delta variant and the population’s unwillingness to get vaccinated despite vaccination jabs being extensively available.

    The vaccine’s developers in June claimed that Sputnik V was around 90 per cent effective against the Delta variant.

    “The latest results show that effectiveness is around 83 per cent,” the TASS news agency cited Murashko as saying.

    Alexander Ginsburg, director of the Gamaleya Institute which developed the vaccine, said on Wednesday in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper that Sputnik V was safe and effective against all strains of the coronavirus.

    Russia, which has a population of around 144 million, has approved four locally produced vaccines. Around 6.5 million infections have been reported in the country since the start of the pandemic.

  • Pakistanis have to get booster shots in order to perform Umrah

    Pakistanis have to get booster shots in order to perform Umrah

    Pakistanis have to get booster shots of one of the four approved vaccines, i.e. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson in order to perform Umrah. Saudi Arabia is to begin accepting vaccinated foreign visitors for Umrah, reports Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The Saudi authorities will begin taking travel requests starting today and will increase the number of Umrah performers to two million per month. The Kingdom closed its borders some 18 months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    According to the official guidelines for travellers to the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), “Guests who have completed two doses of the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines will be accepted if they have received an additional dose of one of the four vaccines approved in the Kingdom.”

    “All visitors arriving in the country with a valid tourism visa must provide evidence of a full course of one the four vaccines currently recognised: two doses of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or a single dose of the vaccine produced by Johnson and Johnson,” reads the guidelines.

    The Kingdom announced on Sunday about reopening their borders for Umrah, a move that will boost an economy hit by the Covid pandemic. Domestic and overseas pilgrims will have to include authorised Covid-19 vaccination certificates along with their Umrah application. “A certificate of immunisation certified by the official authorities in the country of the Umrah performer must be attached within the documents of requesting the performance of Umrah rituals, with the condition that the vaccines be approved in the Kingdom.” Moreover, foreign visitors from Saudi entry-ban list will have to undergo quarantine.

    Saudi Arabia has recorded nearly 532,000 coronavirus cases and more than 8,300 deaths.

  • Public sector and military hospitals should be open to general public: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    Public sector and military hospitals should be open to general public: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has suggested that public sector and military hospitals should be open to the general public, reported Dawn.

    Justice Isa had recently contracted Covid-19 despite being vaccinated. His statement comes in relevance to the grave situation with the surging cases of Covid-19 in Pakistan.

    In a statement, Justice Isa said: “Since we are in a situation no less grave than a war, all public sector hospitals, including combined military hospitals and other armed forces hospitals, should be opened immediately to serve the people.”

    “Otherwise, class and social divides will further be exacerbated and people continue to suffer and die because of an unequal system,” said Justice Isa.

     “My wife and I were one of the initial lucky few in the country who were fully vaccinated as both of us were above 60; courtesy of the Chinese government. We took every precaution, including always wearing masks in public places, yet contracted the highly infectious Delta variant of the disease,” read the statement.

    “Even with the vaccination, I still had to be hospitalised. I am receiving excellent treatment from very competent doctors and attendants at the Quaid-i-Azam International Hospital. Such treatment is not within the reach of most [people],” added Justice Isa.

  • Covid-19: New lockdown restrictions in Islamabad

    Amid the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, new lockdown orders have been announced for Islamabad. As per the notification, the following restrictions have been imposed:

    • Cinemas closed
    • Shrines closed
    • Transport 50%
    • Offices 50%
    • Saturday and Sunday full lockdown
    • All indoor functions/weddings banned
    • Time for markets 8pm
    • Contact sports , pools, parks closed
    • Masks compulsory
    • Gyms allowed for vaccinated individuals only

    The new Covid-19 restrictions were imposed on August 3 and will remain in place till August 31.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 4,722 new cases of Covid-19 with the positivity rate of 8.22 per cent.

  • Sindh to go into complete lockdown from tomorrow

    The Sindh government has decided to impose lockdown in the province till August 8, starting from tomorrow. The decision was taken during a provincial coronavirus task force meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday.

    The decision to impose the lockdown has been taken to curb the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in the province. During the meeting of Provincial Corona Task Force, Sindh Health Secretary Dr Kazim Jato said that the positivity rate in Karachi during the last 24 hours was 23 per cent, 14.52 per cent in Hyderabad and 2.9 per cent in Sukkur.

    The following decisions were taken in the meeting today:

    • Vaccination cards of citizens roaming the streets will be checked.
    • All markets will remain closed during the lockdown.
    • All government offices will be closed from next week.
    • Pharmacies will remain open.
    • Unvaccinated government t employees will not get salaries after August 31.

    However, businesses associated with the export sector will be allowed to operate.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 4,537 new cases of Covid-19 with the positivity rate of 7.79 per cent.

  • Antibodies from Sinovac’s Covid-19 shot fade after six months, booster helps: study

    Antibodies formed by Sinovac Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine drop below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, although a third shot could have a strong boosting impact, a lab study has revealed. 

    According to details, Chinese researchers reported the results from a study of blood samples from healthy adults aged between 18-59 in a paper published on Sunday, which has not been peer-reviewed, reports Reuters.

    For participants receiving two doses, two or four weeks apart, only 16.9% and 35.2% respectively still had a level of neutralising antibodies above the threshold six months after the second dose, the paper said.

    Read More: Covid vaccination certificate necessary for domestic air travel from August 1

    Those readings were based on data from two groups involving more than 50 participants each, while the study gave third doses to a total of 540 participants.

    When participants in some cohorts were given a third dose, about six months after the second, neutralising antibody levels after a further 28 days had increased around 3-5 fold from the levels seen four weeks after the second dose, the study showed.

    The study was conducted by researchers at disease control authorities in Jiangsu province, Sinovac, and other Chinese institutions.

    Researchers notified the study did not test the antibodies’ effect against more contagious variants, and that further research was required to assess antibody duration after a third shot.

  • Covid vaccination certificate necessary for domestic air travel from August 1

    Covid vaccination certificate necessary for domestic air travel from August 1

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has announced to make the Covid vaccination certificate compulsory for travelling through domestic flights from August 1.

    NCOC has urged the citizens to get vaccinated by July 31 to avoid any inconvenience. “The citizens should get a Covid vaccine certificate after the vaccination process,” it wrote in a Tweet.

    As per reports, those who would not need the COVID vaccination certificate, according to the NCOC, included travelers boarding abroad flights, foreign nationals, and those avoiding vaccination owing to a reaction in the body.

    Read More: How to get your Covid-19 vaccination certificate

    Furthermore, those having a COVID vaccination certificate from abroad would also be exempted from carrying a Covid vaccination certificate from NADRA.

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also directed its staff to get themselves vaccinated against the virus by July 31.

    Circulation was also issued by Director General Civil Aviation Authority (DGCCA).

     “All staff must get vaccinated by July 31 otherwise they will not be allowed to enter into the premises of office/ airport from August 1,” read the notification.

  • Sindh govt to block phone SIMs of unvaccinated people

    Sindh govt to block phone SIMs of unvaccinated people

    The Sindh government has officially decided to write a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) to block phone SIMs of unvaccinated people amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in the province.

    Adviser to Chief Minister Sindh on Law, Murtaza Wahab, took to Twitter to announce the decision.

    “#SindhGovt has decided to write to NCOC & PTA that mobile sims of unvaccinated people should be blocked,” he wrote in a tweet.

    According to details, Chief Minister Sindh has also said that the PTA would be contacted through the federal government to encourage the users via text messages to get vaccinated and those not getting a shot in a week will have their SIMs blocked.

    As cases are increasing in the province, the Sindh government has decided to tighten the restrictions. The Covid-19 task force held a meeting on Friday and made the following decisions:

    • Shopping malls and markets can operate from 6am to 6pm except for pharmacies and bakeries.
    • The government has imposed a ban on indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants. Only takeaways are allowed.
    • Public and private offices have been asked to call in 50 per cent of their workforce.
    • Shrines to be closed once again.
    • Ban to be imposed on weddings and other events.
    • Schools will remain closed, while exams will continue as per schedule.

    The new restrictions will be imposed from Monday, July 26. The positivity rate in Sindh is 10.3 per cent, the task force participants were informed. Karachi’s situation is getting worse day by day. At least 1,002 patients are in critical care.

    As per reports, the province reported six cases of the Delta variant on Monday, the province’s health secretary, Qasim Soomro, confirmed.

    The guidelines to avoid exposure to the new variant are the same:

    • Sanitise hands more often
    • Wear a mask
    • Avoid public gatherings
    • Get vaccinated as soon as possible
    • Avoid meeting people with symptoms
    • Avoid unnecessary travel

    Total tests conducted in the last 24 hours were 25,215 out of which 1,425 cases tested positive. The positivity rate was 5.65 per cent as per NCOC.

  • Pakistan receives more than 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

    Pakistan has received more than 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the global COVAX initiative, Express Tribune has reported.

    Sajid Shah, spokesperson of the Heath Ministry, told The Express Tribune that more than 1.2 million doses of the vaccine have reached Islamabad.

    In May, Pakistan received first shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

    During the last 24 hours, Pakistan administered 513,292 doses of the vaccines. So far, 22,735,993 doses have been administered in Pakistan.

    Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Friday said unvaccinated people were seven times more likely to contract the coronavirus than those inoculated.

  • More than half a million vaccine doses administered for first time on July 12, says Asad Umar

    Asad Umar in a tweet has said that 525,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered yesterday.

    “For the first time we crossed half a million doses of vaccination yesterday. 5 lakh 25 thousand doses were administered yesterday,” Asad Umar tweeted.

    “Highest ever first dose was also achieved yesterday with 3 lakh 90 thousand first doses administered. The pace will increase further inshallah,” he added.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan recorded 1,590 cases of Covid-19 yesterday with the positivity rate  of 3.63 per cent.