Can Pakistan Effectively Respond to Coronavirus Pandemic?

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistani public health system's ability to deal with Covid19 pandemic is increasingly being questioned with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases spiking in the country. The current hotspot is in southern Sindh province where the provincial government is taking the lead in fighting its spread by shutting schools, closing restaurants and shopping malls and banning large gatherings such as weddings and conferences. The federal government has closed Pakistan's western border with Iran where the coronavirus pandemic is raging. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has started screening all incoming passengers and stopped flights to and from several countries hit by the pandemic. Pakistani health experts are advising people with flu-like symptoms to self-isolate in their homes. The best known treatment for the severely ill is Resochin, the anti-malarial antiviral made by Bayer Pakistan. Hydroxycholroquine (HCQ), made by Getz Pakistan, is also reportedly effective in treating Covid19.

Coronavirus Global Pandemic

Is Pakistan Ready?

Pakistan is among only 6 countries in the world that have taken the steps they need to evaluate their ability to withstand a global pandemic, according to a 2017 report sponsored by the World Bank. The 6 countries named in the report are: Eritrea, Finland, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and the United States.

Covid19 Coronavirus. Source: US CDC

Pakistan's ability to deal with a pandemic is now being tested by the coronavirus. The current hotspot for it is in southern Sindh province where the provincial government is taking the lead in fighting its spread by shutting schools, closing restaurants and shopping malls and banning large gatherings such as weddings and conferences. The federal government has closed Pakistan's western border with Iran where the coronavirus pandemic is raging. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has started screening all incoming passengers and stopped flights to and from several countries hit by the pandemic. Pakistani health experts are advising people with flu-like symptoms to self-isolate in their homes.

Pakistan is ramping up coronavirus testing and setting up isolation wards at many hospitals in Sindh and across the country. More testing accounts for the spike in confirmed cases. The best known treatment for the severely ill is Resochin, the anti-malarial antiviral made by Bayer Pakistan.

In response to a recent request by Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper staff, World Health Organization Executive Director Dr. Michael J. Ryan said Pakistan has great capacity in public health but he also talked of challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. “Pakistan has a highly mobile population with mega cities and undeserved people,” he said.  “So there is a great challenge facing Pakistan. But Pakistan has also demonstrated time and again with dengue, polio and other diseases how all of the government and society’s approaches can be made to work.”

Dr. Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Pakistan, also lauded Pakistan's response to Covid19 pandemic, according to The News. He said,  “Pakistan has timely come up with one of the world’s best National Response Program against COVID-19 and it is being implemented very effectively. Authorities are doing their job and now it is the responsibility of the people to follow the instructions and take preventive and precautionary measures to avoid contracting the viral disease.”

The World Bank report titled "From Panic and Neglect to Investing in Health Security: Financing Pandemic Preparedness at a National Level" was written by experts from the World Bank,  the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the African and Asian development banks, and finance officials from various governments. The report included estimates of the economic damage various epidemics had done. For example, the viral pneumonia SARS — which ultimately killed only 774 people — shrank China’s gross domestic product by 0.5 percent in 2003. The report also broke down costs on a per capita basis. A major flu pandemic, for example, would cost Afghanistan only $12 per citizen, India $31, Pakistan $28 and the United States $248.

Social Distancing:

The current hotspot is in southern Sindh province where the provincial government is taking the lead in fighting its spread by shutting schools, closing restaurants and shopping malls and banning large gatherings. The federal government has closed Pakistan's western border with Iran where the coronavirus pandemic is raging. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has started screening all incoming passengers and stopped flights to and from several countries hit by the pandemic.

Italian experience with coronavirus has shown that even a well-developed public health system in a rich European country can be overwhelmed by rapidly growing pandemic such as Covid19.  The best way to handle the situation is to cut the infection rate by keeping people about 6 feet apart. This is being called "social distancing".

Social Distancing to Limit Infection Rates

Based on what the United States has learned from what is happening in Italy, major cities and states in America are taking steps to reduce large gatherings of people. Offices, schools, restaurants and shopping centers are closed with shelter-in-place orders in Silicon Valley and the larger 6-county San Francisco Bay Area.

Herd Immunity:

Herd immunity develops when a large percentage of population is infected or vaccinated. Dr. Arindam Basu, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at University of Canterbury, has recently written an article in The Conversation arguing that it is "unethical and potentially dangerous" to wait for herd immunity to develop in the absence of a vaccine.  It could result in hundreds of thousands or even millions of deaths among the most vulnerable segments of the population such as the elderly and the immune-compromised.

Pakistan's Assistance to China:

Chinese President Xi Jinping has thanked Pakistan for its support during coronabirus outbreak in his country. "China is deeply grateful for Pakistan's support. Facts have proved once again that China and Pakistan are true friends who share weal and woe and good brothers who share each other's joys and sorrows. The special friendship is a historical choice, and is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples," said Xi.

Resochin (Chloroquine) Produced by Bayer Pakistan

At the peak of the outbreak in February, Bayer Pakistan exported to China 300,000 tablets of Resochin (Chloroquine) that proved effective in treating coronavirus infections and saving lives in Wuhan. Resochin is an antiviral drug used for treating malaria. Chloroquine is manufactured by not just Bayer but several other drug companies as well.  China and many other countries discontinued its production years ago.   Several Pakistani pharmaceutical companies also manufacture HydroxyChloroquine which has lower toxicity and fewer side effects. The United Kingdom has banned hoarding and export of both of these drugs. In addition, Pakistan donated 7,000 surgical masks to China at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.  A recent paper titled "An Effective Treatment for Coronavirus (COVID-19)"  by James M. Todaro, MD and and Gregory J. Rigano, Esq. has published data showing the efficacy of familiar anti-malaria drugs Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of and as prophylactic against COVID-19.

In Vitro Efficacy of Chloroquine(CQ) vs Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) Ag...

Recently, Chinese research (reported in Clinical Trials Arena) reported that “data from the drug’s [chloroquine] studies showed ‘certain curative effect’ with ‘fairly good efficacy’ … patients treated with chloroquine demonstrated a better drop in fever, improvement of lung CT images, and required a shorter time to recover compared to parallel groups. The percentage of patients with negative viral nucleic acid tests was also higher with the anti-malarial drug… Chloroquine has so far shown no obvious serious adverse reactions in more than 100 participants in the trials… Chloroquine was selected after several screening rounds of thousands of existing drugs. Chloroquine is undergoing further trials in more than ten hospitals in Beijing, Guangdong province and Hunnan province.”

A small French study found only 25% of COVID19 patients who took it for 6 days still had the virus while 90% of those who had not taken it still had Covid-19.

HCQ (Hydroxychloroquine) Manufactured by Getz Pakistan

Economic Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic:

Service sector accounts for  50% of the world GDP and 54% of Pakistan's GDP.  Social distancing will significantly impact the services, particularly retail, restaurants, travel, transport and education sectors. Imran Khan has expressed fear that the pandemic will devastate the economies of developing countries.

“My worry is poverty and hunger," Khan said. "The world community has to think of some sort of a debt write-off for countries like us, which are very vulnerable, at least that will help us in coping with (the coronavirus).”

Summary:

Pakistan is among only six countries in the world that have taken the steps they need to evaluate their ability to withstand a global pandemic, according to a 2017 report sponsored by the World Bank. The current hotspot is in southern Sindh province where the provincial government is taking the lead in fighting its spread by shutting schools, closing restaurants and shopping malls and banning large gatherings. The federal government has closed Pakistan's western border with Iran where the coronavirus pandemic is raging. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has started screening all incoming passengers and stopped flights to and from several countries hit by the pandemic.  The best known treatment for the severely ill is Resochin, the anti-malarial antiviral made by Bayer Pakistan.  Dr. Michael Ryan and Dr. Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala of the World Health Organization (WHO) have talked of challenges Pakistan faces but also praised the steps it has taken to fight coronavirus pandemic.

Here's the latest Coronavirus Pandemic Update:

https://youtu.be/vE4_LsftNKM

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[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan to receive first batch of #Pfizer #BioNTech #vaccine by June. The country has already procured and installed ultra cold chain (UCC) refrigerators in Islamabad for storage of the vaccine.
Pakistan has procured 23 UCC refrigerators. https://www.geo.tv/latest/346645-pakistan-to-receive-first-batch-of...


Pakistan has prepared to acquire at least 100,000 doses of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine of Pfizer BioNTech through COVAX by June this year, The News reported on Thursday.

For preparation beforehand, the country has already procured and installed ultra cold chain (UCC) refrigerators in Islamabad and all the federating units for storage of the vaccine, officials said.

Confirming the development, an official of the National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination said: “COVAX has assured us of providing at least 100,000 doses of mRNA vaccine of Pfizer BioNTech by June this year. On their assurance, we have acquired and installed 23 UCC refrigerators throughout Pakistan."

The double-dose Pfizer vaccine has a shelf life of six months when stored at minus-75C (minus-103F), which represents a logistical challenge in many countries as it requires specialised freezers.

However, officials in Pakistan said they had already taken care of the storage issue by installing 23 UCC freezers at 16 locations across Pakistan.

Pakistan procures 23 UCC refrigerators
The official said with the financial assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) available with the UNICEF, Pakistan has procured 23 UCC refrigerators.

According to NHS officials, eight UCC refrigerators have been installed at EPI, NIH Islamabad, as well as the Tarlai Rural Health Centre.

Read more: NIH planning to develop single-dose coronavirus vaccine in Pakistan

One refrigerator is installed at the district health authority office in Rawalpindi, two at the principal EPI headquarter in Karachi, one at the EPI office in Hyderabad and one at the EPI headquarter in Quetta.

Similarly, one UCC refrigerator each has been installed at Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala, and Gilgit.

The official noted that two UCC refrigerators have been installed in Mirpur Azad Kashmir and Muzaffarabad, while three UCC refrigerators have been installed in Peshawar, Abbottabad, and Swat.

Apart from the installation of refrigerators, specialised and trained teams had been hired to install the sophisticated equipment to ensure that precious vaccines and biological products remain safe in them.

Pakistan to receive 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine
According to NHS officials, in addition to 100,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, COVAX has also assured that Pakistan would be provided 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine from a "non-Indian” source after Indian authorities diverted the vaccine supplies to meet domestic needs.

“COVAX has further assured to provide us 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca by May-June from a non-Indian source," the official said.

"We are quite satisfied with the assurance and are planning to open the registration of all the adults in the country after Eid-ul-Fitr,” the official said, adding that registration of healthcare workers has also re-started till April 30, 2021, to help those who have not been vaccinated yet.

[Riaz Haq]

Roshan the camel brings books to #homeschooling children in rural #Balochistan, #Pakistan during #COVID19 #pandemic . Children in remote villages where the streets are too narrow for vehicles rush out to meet Roshan, shouting "the camel is here!"#education reuters.com/lifestyle/roshan-camel-brings-books-homeschooling-children-rural-pakistan-2021-04-26/


Plodding his way through the desert in remote southwest Pakistan, Roshan the camel carries priceless cargo: books for children who can no longer go to school because of coronavirus lockdowns.

The school children, who live in remote villages where the streets are too narrow for vehicles, put on their best clothes and rush out to meet Roshan. They crowd around the animal shouting "the camel is here!"

Pakistan's schools first closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and have only opened sporadically since then, with around 50 million school-age children and university students told to continue their education from home. It's been especially difficult in places like Balochistan, where in many villages internet access is almost non-existent.

Raheema Jalal, a high school principal who founded the Camel Library project with her sister, a federal minister, says she started the library last August because she wanted children around her remote hometown to continue learning despite schools being closed.


The project is a collaboration with the Female Education Trust and Alif Laila Book Bus Society, two NGOs that have been running children's library projects in the country for 36 years.

Roshan carries the books to four different villages in the district of Kech, visiting each village three times a week and staying for about two hours each time. Children borrow books and return them the next time Roshan visits.

"I like picture books, because when I look at the pictures and the photographs, I can understand the story better," nine-year-old Ambareen Imran told Reuters.

Jalal hopes to continue and expand the project to cover more villages, but needs funding: around $118 a month is needed now each month for Roshan.

Murad Ali, Roshan's owner, says he was taken aback when he was first contacted about the project, but thought camels were the sensible mode of transport. He enjoys the trips and seeing the happy children and still earns as much as he used to when he transported firewood.

Balochistan makes up nearly half of Pakistan by area, but the sparsely populated province is also the country's most impoverished.

[Riaz Haq]

Thinking Inside the ‘Box’: #Pakistan Turns to #Education TV During #COVID19 #Pandemic. It has been made available as on demand content on program websites, YouTube channels, and mobile apps. Viewership of these 2 initiatives was high during first 6 months https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/thinking-inside-box-pakistan-...

Story Highlights

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan quickly deployed the federal program TeleSchool for Pakistani students, and the provincial program Taleem Ghar for students in Punjab.

Viewership of these two initiatives was high during the first six months due to leveraged resources and stakeholders and a phased roll out approach, although awareness and use decreased right after.

Key challenges include improving student engagement, enhancing lesson content, increasing viewership, and leveraging TV lessons beyond the pandemic as part of blended learning.

Education TV as a remote learning tool during a pandemic

School closures as a result of the pandemic affected more than 30 million children in Pakistan, including approximately 12 million children in Punjab. According to the World Bank, at least one million children would drop out of primary and secondary school as a consequence. To ensure the continuity of learning, the country turned to educational technology (EdTech) tools like TV, radio, and mobile phones. Almost all of Pakistan (95 percent) and Punjab (90 percent) had access to TV, so this became the most viable option for remote learning for students and for teacher training.

Pakistan's Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) and the School Education Department (SED) of the province of Punjab, Pakistan went into emergency education planning mode. In April 2020, Punjab rolled out the education TV program Taleem Ghar to support remote learning for its students. This was immediately followed by a roll-out of the federal education TV program TeleSchool across Pakistan.

As a response, the World Bank produced pragmatic guides called 'Knowledge Packs' to support policymakers in making quick yet informed decisions as they work with education ministries. For example, the Education TV Knowledge Pack includes case studies such as Pakistan's to support with just-in-time pragmatic learnings from successful TV programing across countries; evidence of its effectiveness; steps and costs to start and enhance programing; and how to navigate the decision-making process. This initiative is part of the global program for Continuous and Accelerated Learning in response to COVID-19 supported with funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and implemented with UNESCO and UNICEF. Two World Bank projects have been providing financing: 'Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP)' provides funding for TeleSchool, and 'Third Punjab Education Sector Project (PESP III)' provides funding for Taleem Ghar.

Increasing student access and engagement, and the critical role of teachers

Education TV in Pakistan has been made available as on demand content on program websites, YouTube channels, and mobile apps. Punjab developed animated teacher characters for TV lessons (Miss DNA, Mr. Khawarizmi, and Miss Curie). "The biggest challenge was the disengagement of children from academic learning... The biggest question was---'how will the children learn'? We started looking at what existed and what we could start immediately," stated Umbreen Arif, Technical Advisor to the Pakistan Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, who led TeleSchool.

Public school teachers, subject experts, and timetabling specialists were leveraged to develop TV lessons and scripts for broadcasting aligned to the national and provincial curricula, and to curate existing educational content. Teachers also supported mass communication campaigns by appearing on TV network morning shows.

[Riaz Haq]

Top #Pakistan #health official doesn't foresee #India scenario. Says Pakistan avoided a similar scenario to India because thousands of beds were added to hospitals and the production of #oxygen was increased as part of a contingency plan. https://news.yahoo.com/top-pakistan-health-official-doesnt-16343968... via @YahooNews

Pakistan recently offered medical aid to India to help handle the COVID-19 crisis there, but the Foreign Ministry says New Delhi did not respond. Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and they have fought two of their wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Sultan said Pakistan avoided a similar scenario to India because thousands of beds were added to hospitals and the production of oxygen was increased as part of a contingency plan.

However, Sultan said that “we are not out of the woods yet" and people should get vaccinated if they want to return to a normal life.

His comments came hours after Pakistan reported one of the lowest single-day death tolls from COVID-19 in recent months, with 57 fatalities

Pakistan has repeatedly expressed grief over the COVID-19 situation in India, where authorities reported 4,454 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing India’s total fatalities from the virus to 303,720 out of 27 million cases.

Pakistan has registered about 903,600 cases and 20,308 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020.

Sultan said Pakistan would try to vaccinate a third of the country's population by the end of this year. “Pakistan is offering free vaccinations to all, there is no discrimination between rich and poor," Sultan said.

The government offers Pakistanis the Chinese-made Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines as well as AstraZeneca doses.

Sultan said the Pakistani government has so far vaccinated more than 5 million people, compared to only 35,000 who were vaccinated with doses imported commercially.

He said Pakistan after months of wait received its first supply of COVID-19 vaccines through the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative, over 1.2 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, earlier this month. However, he said Pakistan is relying on vaccines purchased from China and enough funds were available for such purchases.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan begins #coronavirus #vaccination for all adults. Pak has given 5.3 million doses of 3 #Chinese vaccines- Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino - & #AstraZeneca shots. Pak private sector has imported nearly 50,000 doses of Russia's #SputnikV vaccine. https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-opens-coronavirus-vaccination-drive...


Pakistan on Wednesday opened up its coronarvirus vaccination campaign to everyone aged 19 or older as it scrambles to protect more of its 220 million people.

Pakistan initially had to deal with vaccination hesitancy and a shortage of vaccine supplies and had limited shots to people aged 30 or over.

But with purchases and donations from China and allocations from the World Health Organisation and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, it has now secured more than 18 million doses and is keen to get them out into the population.

"We decided to open up vaccination registration for all 19 years and above," Asad Umar, minister in-charge of supervising anti-COVID operations, said in a post on Twitter.

People can sign up from Thursday, he said.

"So now registration will be open for the entire national population which is approved by health experts for COVID vaccination," Umar said.

Pakistan has reported more than 900,000 coronavirus infections and some 20,465 deaths. On Wednesday, authorities reported 2,724 new infections and 65 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Pakistan has administered 5.3 million vaccine doses with supplies from three Chinese companies - Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSinbio - and the Oxford-AstraZeneca shots.

Pakistan's private sector has imported nearly 50,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan vaccinates close to 300k people in a day. On Wednesday, 294,364 people were administered the #vaccine, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) tweeted. So far, 6,424,873 people have been inoculated in Pakistan. #VaccineRegistration https://www.brecorder.com/news/40095669

Today, the registration process for the coronavirus vaccine for people aged 19 and above has begun as well. Pakistan will now be able to administer the vaccine to its entire population that has been deemed appropriate for a jab by health experts.

A senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said that there were 100 million people over the age of 18 years in Pakistan. “We are targeting 70 million for vaccination to achieve herd immunity,” the official of the NIH was quoted as saying on the Dawn.com website.

During the last 24 hours, 2,726 new Covid-19 cases and 75 deaths were reported across the country. The national tally has reached 911,302 while the death toll stands at 20,540. The national positivity ratio is 4.34%.

[Riaz Haq]

Ace dog teams sniff out #coronavirus in travelers at #Pakistani airports. Officials report “100% accuracy” in dog sniffing tests for disease. The dogs not only reconfirm rapid tests taken but also stop travelers from arguing about accuracy of the results https://www.arabnews.com/node/1867426#.YLQZiO9lgT0.twitter

In Pakistan’s northwestern Peshawar international airport, Beeker and Titli — a Labrador and a Belgian Shepherd — are hard at work sniffing out COVID-19 in inbound travelers with 100 percent accuracy, accompanied by their human medical teams.
For every positive test they sniff out, they are rewarded with a ball to play with.
Sniffer dogs have been working in teams of two at Islamabad and Peshawar airports, as well as at the Torkham border crossing, to detect and alert medical teams about passengers carrying the virus into Pakistan.
“At the moment, we can say their accuracy to identify the positive samples is 100 percent,” Obaid-ur-Rehman Abbasi, chief operating officer at Peshawar Airport, told Arab News.

Sniffer dogs have long been used at airports and border points worldwide to sniff out drugs and explosives, but this year a team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine worked to determine if dogs could also be trained to detect the fast-traveling virus.
The proof-of-concept study, published in April in the journal PLOS ONE, showed that the virus has an odor that trained dogs can identify in urine and saliva.
Earlier this month, Pakistan deployed the sniffer dog teams at the two airports and land route as the third wave of coronavirus swept the country amid fears the highly transmissible Indian variant could arrive from across the border.
The dogs, officials say, not only reconfirm rapid tests taken at the airports but also stop travelers from arguing about the accuracy of the results.
“The problem for us was that those found COVID-19 positive upon arrival would argue (with authorities) . . . they’d say we are fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR test from before departure . . . how can we test positive here?” Abbasi said, but added that they “cooled down” when the dogs reconfirmed their rapid tests.
The procedure is simple. The dogs sniff out the sample from metal funnels, and if they smell the virus, they simply sit down.
Abbasi said, laughing: “These dogs are really making our lives easy.”

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan’s Public #Debt To GDP Remained Unchanged During the #COVID19 #pandemic while #india’s debt-to-GDP ratio increased from 74% to 90%. Most emerging countries saw debt-to-gdp increase by 10% during the #coronavirus pandemic. via @forbes. #economy https://www.forbes.com/sites/naeemaslam/2021/06/04/pakistans-public...

Even giants like the United States and India have had difficulty dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Donald Trump, Dwayne Johnson, and Ellen DeGeneres have all been infected by this virus. In this situation, Pakistan has succeeded in reviving its economy, which is expected to grow by nearly 4% in 2021, exceeding initial projections.


The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) initially predicted a 3% growth in GDP, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank predicted 1.5% and 1.3% increases, respectively. The country's per capita income will rise 14.6% from $1,405 in 2020 to $1,610 in 2021.

The services sector, which is forecasted to grow by 4.43% in 2020-2021, is responsible for the majority of the growth. This is certainly remarkable for a country like Pakistan which is becoming successful in expanding its services sector. The agricultural sector's predicted growth is 2.77%, while that of the industrial sector is 3.57%.

The bleak situation in India, which has reported an incredible number of 28,441,986 cases and 338,013 deaths, has alarmed both government authorities and medical specialists in Pakistan. Due to the increase in awareness caused by social media in Pakistan, Pakistani citizens have begun to wear masks, which they did not previously.


Last year, the country saw a surge in cases during the Eid-festival, but the government was quick to move this time, imposing partial lockdowns, closing non-essential enterprises, and prohibiting domestic tourism, which helped the country avoid a spike in cases. However, the restrictions imposed have jeopardized the labor class's livelihoods.

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Vaccination Plan

The government hopes to have vaccinated 70% of the population by the end of 2021. 5.3 million citizens have been vaccinated so far. With the help of CanSino Bio, a Chinese company, Pakistan has developed its own "PakVac" vaccine, bolstering the country's vaccination program.

Stock Market Sentiment

Last week Pakistan reported the highest traded volumes on the Pakistan Stock Exchange at 1.56 billion shares and 2.21 billion shares respectively on May 26 and May 27. Investors are optimistic because of the populist budget proposal and improved growth forecasts.

Economic Growth

According to SBP’s Governor, Reza Baqir, the unexpected growth in GDP is due to accommodative monetary and fiscal policy. SBP quickly reduced its policy rate by 625 basis points to 7% and released a stimulus amounting to 5% of GDP. In addition, the governor said that the government was able to control the coronavirus situation reporting 12 new cases per million, compared to 62 new cases per million reported globally.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan is rapidly ramping up daily #COVID #vaccination rate, reaching half a million a day in the last of couple of days. #India #Bangladesh #Nepal https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/pakistan?country=~PAK

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1401695468011233285?s=20

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan administers 10 millionth #Covid #vaccine dose. Plans to inoculate 70 million #Pakistanis by year-end. Pakistan's #coronavirus positivity rate at 2.54% in the past 24 hours — the 2nd day in a row that the positivity rate remained below 3% https://www.dawn.com/news/1628416

Pakistan administered the 10 millionth Covid-19 vaccine dose on Wednesday, with Federal Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Asad Umar announcing that the authorities aimed to inoculate 70 million people by the end of this year.

He said around 300,000 people were registering themselves for vaccination against Covid-19 on a daily basis and urged people to get inoculated so that the government may ease Covid-19 restrictions.

The minister added that precautionary measures taken during the third wave of the pandemic in the country had shown positive results and a visible reduction in Covid-19 positivity rate.

Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate has been recorded as 2.54 per cent in the past 24 hours — the second day in a row that the positivity rate remained below 3pc. According to the health ministry, 43,900 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours after which 1,118 people tested positive.

Besides, 335,790 people were administered Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, according to the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC).

“The more [people] we vaccinate, the better we will be protected [against Covid-19],” Umar said, appealing to people to increasingly participate in the vaccination campaign.

Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who accompanied Umar on the occasion of the administration of the 10 millionth dose, tweeted: "We have reached the milestone of administering the vaccine to 10 million people [sic]."


He also lauded the government, particularly Prime Minister Imran Khan and the NCOC, for the way it battled the pandemic.


A day earlier, Umar had announced that a call centre was being established to contact people who had not been administered the second dose of the vaccine and convince them to complete their vaccination, as reports emerged that around 300,000 recipients of the first dose had never returned to receive their second jab of the Covid-19 vaccine.

PakVac
Last week 120,000 doses of the locally manufactured PakVac vaccine — produced from the concentrate of Cansino vaccine — were launched in the country.

Announcing the production of PakVac, the government had said in a tweet that three million doses of the vaccine would be manufactured per month.

The PakVac vaccine has been developed by China's state-run pharmaceutical company Cansino and is being brought to Pakistan in a concentrated form, where it is packaged at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad. Cansino was the first Chinese vaccine to have undergone clinical trial in Pakistan and was administered to around 18,000 people.

The company's interim efficacy results of a multi-country trial, which included Pakistan, showed the vaccine had a 65.7 per cent efficacy in preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases and a 90.98per cent success rate in stopping severe infections.

In the Pakistani subset, the efficacy of the vaccine at preventing symptomatic cases stood at 74.8per cent and 100per cent at preventing severe disease.

The launch of the first batch of PakVac doses coincided with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan authorising the use of American Pfizer vaccine for emergency use.

The decision came in the wake of Pakistan receiving the first batch of Pfizer doses in May, when 100,000 doses were delivered under the World Health Organisation's global shared vaccine programme, Covax.