Tag: NCOC

  • NCOC to decide on closing schools after checking positivity rates

    NCOC to decide on closing schools after checking positivity rates

    After the much-awaited meeting today about the schools’ closure, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) did not make a decision on whether schools will be closed or not in the wake of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

    The NCOC had called a meeting of the provincial health and education ministers on Monday.

    In a statement, they said, “Decision about education institutions will be taken on data of positive cases of various institutions for which massive testing in educational institutions is being carried out.”

    Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid informed the ministers that 85 per cent of the students in Punjab have been fully vaccinated and the Covid-19 situation in the province is under control.

    In Sindh, Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah decided that educational institutions will continue in the province despite an alarming surge in cases as Karachi has reached a 40 per cent positivity rate.

    Meanwhile, earlier today a total of 4,340 new cases have been reported in the country.

  • ‘No lockdown for now,’ says NCOC chief despite rising cases

    ‘No lockdown for now,’ says NCOC chief despite rising cases

    The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) chief Asad Umar said that the government has no intentions of imposing a coronavirus lockdown for now in the country.

    According to Geo News, Asad highlighted that instead of lockdowns, the government is focusing on ramping up vaccinations and strict implementation of the bans placed earlier on certain activities if one is not vaccinated.

    50 per cent of the cases in Sindh are of Omicron and the statistics show that the city’s positivity ratio reached 9.23 per cent on Wednesday.

    Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU) Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Rasul said, “Coronavirus cases of the Omicron variant are going up in Karachi because of a lack of vaccinations.”

    Meanwhile, Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity ratio exceeded 2 per cent for the first time since October 14 last year, as 1,085 new infections were detected.

  • How and where to get your free booster shot in Pakistan

    How and where to get your free booster shot in Pakistan

    The fifth wave of Covid-19 has recently emerged all over Pakistan. Authorities have urged citizens to get vaccination completely and follow strict SOPs. Those who completed two doses of the vaccine can get booster shots from designated centres.

    Eligibility of booster shot

    According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), health personnel, citizens who are above aged 30, and those children who are above age 12 and have weak immune systems can receive booster shots.

    It is important to note for those people who want to get a booster shot, the gap between the second dose of vaccine and booster shot should be more than six months.

    Which vaccine you can choose?

    People can choose booster shots of their choice from four available vaccines which are Sinopharm, Sinovac, Moderna, and Pfizer.  

     Director-General of Ministry of National Health Service, Dr Rana Safdar said, “mix and match has been allowed or booster of the same company, which was administered earlier, can be given as per the choice of the people.”

    Here, the term “mix and match” means those people who had been vaccinated with another vaccine, can get booster shots from the different manufacturing companies.

    Where people can receive booster shots?

    Sindh:

    The media coordinator of the Provincial Health Department, Mehar Khursheed told that people can get booster shots from any vaccination centre in the province. People need to take their vaccination cards and the National Identity cards to get shot in the vaccination centre.

    Punjab:

    According to the spokesperson for the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, doses for booster shots are available in all approved district headquarters hospitals (DHQs) and tehsil headquarters hospitals (THQs).

    Balochistan

    The administration of booster shots had started already from December 30 according to the Provincial Coronavirus cell in charge Dr Naqeebullah. The facility of booster shots is available at 96 vaccination centres in the province. He notified that the people who got the dose for booster were all above aged 30 with six month time period gap from the second dose of vaccination.

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    Director-General Health Department Niaz Mohammad said that all approved vaccines are available to vaccination across the province for booster shots. People need to take their vaccination cards to get a dose of the booster.

    Islamabad

    According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Sajid Shah, all Chinese manufacturing vaccines, Sinopharm and Sinovac are available in all vaccination centres for booster shots however for other vaccines Moderna and Pfizer are available in mass vaccination centres.

    Azad Jammu and Kashmir

    Divisional Monitoring Officer for Covid-19 Vaccination, Shafaq Malik said that people can get booster shots from any of the approved vaccines available at currently 142 centres in the region.

  • 46% of Pakistanis are fully vaccinated against Covid-19

    National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) Cheif Asad Umar has revealed 46 per cent of Pakistan’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

    In a tweet, the federal minister said, “Amongst the federating units, Islamabad leads with 77 per cent fully vaccinated persons. Punjab is at 51 per cent, Gilgit-Baltistan 46 per cent, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 45 per cent, Balochistan 42 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 41 per cent, and Sindh at 37 per cent.”

    Umar also confirmed that 63 per cent of the country’s population has been administered the first dose of the vaccine.

    The country reported over 500 covid cases in a day on Friday, positivity rate stands at one per cent.

    Health experts have linked the rise in Covid-19 cases with the Omicron variant as nearly 89 cases of the new strain have been reported alone in Karachi.

  • Balochistan detects 32 cases of Omicron, all from one district

    Balochistan detects 32 cases of Omicron, all from one district

    During a vaccination and diagnostic process, 32 suspected cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been reported in Balochistan’s Kalat district, reports Geo News.

    The suspect cases have been confirmed by Kalat District Health Officer (DHO) Nasrullah Lango. He said that the samples taken from the suspected patients have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad.

    All the suspected patients don’t have any travel history. As of now, the condition of the patients is stable and they have been quarantined in their homes. Moreover, doctors have also been told to be careful.

    The DHO said that the suspected patients include a woman who recently delivered a baby.

    However, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has not confirmed the news but Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has sought a report from the health department.

    Last week, NCOC confirmed the first-ever case of the Omicron variant in Karachi, Sindh.

    The Covid-19 positivity rate stands at 0.65 per cent in Pakistan today.

  • NCOC lowers age limit for Covid-19 booster shot to 30

    NCOC lowers age limit for Covid-19 booster shot to 30

    The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) announced its decision to lower the age limit for the administration of Covid-19 booster shot for people who got both their shots six months back. Pakistanis aged 30 or above can now get a booster shot of their own choice across Pakistan from January 1, 2022.

    Only Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Pfizer will be given as booster shots. The booster shot will be administered free of cost.

    Health workers, immunocompromised people and anyone above or of the age of 30 years is eligible for a booster shot.

    Earlier this month, NCOC had approved a booster shot of Covid-19 vaccines for healthcare workers, those aged over 50 years, and immunocompromised people.

  • Omicron Variant: ‘Need for vaccination even more urgent,’ says Asad Umar

    Omicron Variant: ‘Need for vaccination even more urgent,’ says Asad Umar

    Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Asad Umar, has stressed upon the need of getting vaccinated with the arrival of the Omicron variant. “With arrival of omicron variant the need for vaccination even more urgent. So far 8 crore 75 lakh Pakistani’s have taken at least one dose and 6 crore people are fully vaccinated,” the minister wrote in a tweet.

    On December 13, the NCOC confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant in Pakistan.

    NCOC also stressed upon the importance of getting vaccinated to stay safe from new variants.

  • NCOC to give winter vacations in January instead of December

    NCOC to give winter vacations in January instead of December

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to shift the annual winter vacations for education institutions from December to January, reports Geo News.

    The decision was made in a meeting held on Tuesday, which was attended by all the education ministers who backed and agreed to the proposal.

    According to the NCOC, the vaccination process will continue in educational institutions. However, the institutions will remain closed in areas where heavy snowfall occurs.

    On the contrary, Sindh has already announced winter vacations for educational institutions from December 20, 2021 to January 3, 2022.

    Prior to this development, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood on Tuesday said that as per the “agreed proposal”, winter vacations should be announced from December 25 to January 4.

    However, he added that further notifications will be issued from the concerned governments.

  • Asad Umar urges PCB to give students free entrance to watch Pak vs Windies matches

    Asad Umar urges PCB to give students free entrance to watch Pak vs Windies matches

    National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) head Asad Umar has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to allow free entry for students in the stadium during the Pakistan and West Indies matches.

    Talking to the media outside National Stadium Karachi (NSK), while urging PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, he said: “This is not the time to make money.”

    The federal minister also asked Karachiites to come to National Stadium and support their team.

    Speaking about PSL attendance, the minister said that PCB and NCOC are working jointly over Covid situation.

    “There will be 100pc attendance during PSL 7 matches if Covid-19 situation did not worsen,” Asad added.

    Separately today, the Karachi police have issued a traffic plan in connection with three T20Is and as many ODIs to be played between Pakistan and West Indies at National Stadium Karachi.

    According to a plan issued by the traffic police, the Hassan Square flyover will remain closed for all types of traffic during T20Is and ODI matches.

    In a bid to ensure foolproof security of the players, the traffic police in a statement said that Sir Shah Muhammad Suleman Road from Hasan Square to the National Stadium will remain closed for all kinds of traffic during the matches.

  • Pak includes more countries in restriction list, announces strict travel policies

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) added nine more countries especially from Europe after a reviewal of the covid situation around the globe on Monday.

    According to the notification issued by NCOC on their website, they revised the list of countries due to the worsening Covid situation.

    The nine countries which are banned by the NCOC are Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland, and Zimbabwe.

    In case of emergency travel from recently banned countries, a strict protocol has to be observed by passengers, including foreigners. Passengers above the age of six years will require full vaccination and must possess a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report which must be issued 48 hours prior to boarding a plane. On arrival to Pakistan, rapid antigen testing (RAT) will be conducted. Passengers will be allowed to enter Pakistan who test negative.

    Meanwhile, passengers will face compulsory quarantine of three days after a PCR test from South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

    Passengers will have to be quarantined for an extra 10 days if they get a positive PCR result on arrival or could be transferred to a hospital depending on the advice from health workers as stated by NCOC.

    However to facilitate the stranded Pakistani nationals from countries who are not able to get double dose vaccination because of some reasons including expiry visa, illegal immigration, medical conditions, pending court cases, pregnancy or partially vaccinated from Pakistan are exempted from the requirement of full vaccination.