Islamabad: Pakistan has inoculated around 27,000 frontline healthcare workers against the novel coronavirus, according to the country’s National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Of the vaccinated frontline healthcare workers, 77 per cent are from the worst-hit province of Sindh, Dawn news reported on Thursday citing the NCOC as saying.
Pakistan’s vaccination drive began on February 3 a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the initiative.
Inoculation is being carried out through adult vaccination counters (AVCs) established at 582 health facilities throughout the country.
The country’s overall coronavirus caseload has increased to 559,093, after 1,072 new infections were registered in the last 24 hours.
With the addition of 62 new fatalities, the death toll rose to 12,185. The number of active cases, which was over 50,000 in December 2020, has dropped to 30,512 and 2,168 of the patients have been hospitalised across the country.
Meanwhile, Pakistan government employees, protesting for a pay hike, clashed with police in Islamabad while attempting to enter the capital city’s highly restricted ‘Red Zo ne’ area, the media reported on Thursday.
Protests erupted on Wednesday across Islamabad, including the Constitution Avenue, outside Secretariat Block and Cabinet Block, whose main entrance door was broken down by the demonstrators, The Express Tribune reported.
The federal employees are demanding a 40 per cent rise in salaries instead of the government’s 24 per cent hike.
Due to the protests, the police blocked the city’s strategic Srinagar Highway with containers.
As the protesters marched towards Parliament House to stage a sit-in, a heavy contingent of police fired tear-gas shells. Dozens of protesters were also arrested.