Federal Cabinet likely to approve COVID-19 vaccine procurement

Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair the federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad today. The meeting is expected to approve the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.

According to the details, the federal cabinet is all set to approve recommendations made by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) for the procurement of novel Covid-19 vaccines.

It is likely that at least two Covid-19 vaccines will be registered globally by next month. The NCOC on Monday had finalized its recommendations for the procurement of the vaccine against the deadly disease and forwarded the same to the federal cabinet for approval.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar took to Twitter to make the announcement on Monday.

He wrote:

NCOC today finalized its recommendations for procurement of Covid vaccine. These will be presented to the cabinet tomorrow for approval. The task force of experts headed by SAPM health Dr. Faisal Sultan had developed the recommendations which were discussed and finalized today.

NCOC today finalized its recommendations for procurement of covid vaccine. These will be presented to the cabinet tomorrow for approval. The taskforce of experts headed by SAPM health Dr. Faisal Sultan had developed the recommendations which were discussed and finalized today

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) November 30, 2020

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had given the approval to allocate the US $100 million and allowed advance payment for procurement of the vaccine at the earliest.

Coronavirus Situation in Pakistan 

In the past 24 hours, 40 more people succumbed to the novel coronavirus, taking the death toll to 8,091. Whereas after the country reported fresh 2,458 COVID-19 cases, the national tally hits 400,482. As many as 1,863 patients have recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours and 2,165 patients are in critical condition.

The positivity rate of COVID-19 cases reaches up to 5.9 percent during 24 hours. The total count of active cases increased up to 49,105.